


Pre-Determined

by deepdownbelow (OperaGoose)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Alpha Gladio, Alpha Noctis, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Dystopian Elements, Gender Roles, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Omega Ignis, Other, Scenting, no beta we die like men, omega Prompto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-14 07:08:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 36,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13584888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OperaGoose/pseuds/deepdownbelow
Summary: “Why are you still here, if you’re pre-bonded?” The prince asked.“Omegas can’t leave the facility until they’ve been chosen and scent-marked,” Prompto replied – in the exact tone the droning politician used every time he came to visit. He waved the barcode about to answer further, “my pre-bond is already mated. Stuck here forever, escorting around alphas who think it’s not rude to comment on how bad my scent is.”Then, without warning, Prince Noctis blurted out in an almost guilty whisper: “I’m a broken alpha.” Prompto jolted, turning to look at him directly with shock. “I’ve never been into rut, not even sure if I can knot.”(Rating likely to go up)





	1. Pre-Bonded

“I’m frightened,” the young omega whispered, tucking into his side. He hummed in comfort, holding her close before releasing her to go back to her grooming. 

“It’s alright,” he reassured her softly. “I went to school with him, did you know? He’s not like other alphas.” 

He understood her fear. All omegas lived with it. Ever since the law reforms twelve years ago that took away their rights to choose their own mate, all of them lived with the fear that the alpha that chose them would be abusive. There was a system in place, one only had to report the abuse to a higher-ranking alpha, not related by blood, and the abusive alpha would be put on trial and their omega would be taken to a safer place. If the alpha was convicted – and they often were, the protection of omega was taken _very seriously_. Depending on the severity of their condition they’d be banned from taking another omega or, in the worst cases, have their knots removed. 

But the latest candidate coming to browse was the Prince Noctis. And there _was_ nobody who outranked him except the king, who was excluded because of blood relations. It had been all fine before – Prince Noctis had a gorgeous female omega since he had presented. 

Lady Lunafreya was the sort of omega every young omega dreamed of becoming. Delicate and slender and beautiful and kind and gentle but still strong with a will of her own. Alphas wanted her, omegas wanted to be here. 

But two cycles ago, Ravus Nox Flauret had stormed the citadel and taken her back to Tennebrae. There was no official word, but rumours were abound. Political, like the omega laws were changing to be even _more_ restrictive. Conspirital, like Prince Noctis was actually an omega in disguise pretending to be an alpha for inheritance reasons. Mocking, like Prince Noctis had never fucked her and she’d gone back to Tennebrae a virgin. And, most terrifying to the omega community, that he’d abused her and Lord Ravus had no choice but to rescue her. 

This was the reason why the young omega was afraid of his arrival. Unbound alphas of a certain age were disapproved of. Noctis was of age, and his status meant he had even more pressure to bond. He had to set an example for the rest of the kingdom. If _he_ was allowed to remain unbonded, then what would stop other alphas from doing the same? But if Noctis was really abusive, like the rumours said, then the omega chosen by him would be trapped. 

There were whispers, that the omega of the Niflheim emperor had killed themselves because they had no other option to escape his grasp. Nobody wanted to be in that situation. The omega laws had changed, reportedly to protect them. But Prompto couldn’t help but be suspicious of the real motive. 

There were more alphas than omegas, and when the Omega Rights Movement had proposed abolishing the omega laws completely, giving them full rights and jurisdiction over their own autonomy the Alpha Party had gone into a panic. Propaganda spread everywhere, about omegas getting real jobs, starting their own packs, owning land, _getting to vote_. How society as they knew it would crumble completely and that omegas would refuse mating completely. So the Izunia Omega Reforms had been quickly voted in by an almost entirely alpha government. 

Prompto, who had before this point gone to a mixed school and lived happily at home with all sorts of freedoms taken for granted, had been kidnapped before the first day of high school and brought here, to the omega facility. His other secrets hadn’t lasted much longer after that either. 

Male omega were almost non-existent in Lucis. A conservative leader a few generations ago had convinced the population that male omega were an abomination, and they were sterilized for ‘ _their own wellbeing_ ’. It had been blatant homophobic propaganda, since the majority of alphas were male. But the results, only one generation later, was a decline in omega birth rates which only fed into the ideals that omegas needed to be _treasured and protected_ , AKA restricted and regulated. When Prompto had presented at thirteen, it had been made painfully public knowledge that he was adopted – a refugee from Niflheim. When Niflheim had fallen under General Izunia’s crusades, they’d discovered the cloning facility in the snowy mountains. When the laws had changed and he’d been processed in the new omega facility, they’d also made it public knowledge that he was _an Empty_ too. 

Still. With all of that, he might’ve had a chance at getting an alpha anyway. But his first heat had soured that prospect. Kinda literally. 

Nobody understood the exact nature of bonding. Typically it happened with the knotting in an alpha-omega pair. But betas could bond too. And there were _cases_. Of alphas and omegas bonding in childhood, before presentation or mating age. 

In that case, both alpha and omega were pretty much unable to mate with anyone else. He wasn’t sure what the alpha block was, but he knew with painful experience what the omega block was. Painful, dry heats, and a scent that made impolite alphas gag in disgust – and more polite alphas breathe through their mouths. 

But he’d never bonded with an alpha in childhood. The doctors tried to explain that his DNA was bonded to an absent Alpha of Besithia’s, but at the same time he couldn’t have that alpha because he was bonded to Besithia himself. 

So he was stuck forever as an unmated omega in the omega facility, with no opportunity of that changing. His parents had a petition with the Council For The Protection of Omegas to have him granted beta-status and allow him to leave. But the council had all but ignored it so far. 

At twenty he was the oldest unclaimed omega in the facility. He was a kind of older brother to the omegas here. They came in at presentation – plucked from families at sometimes as young as nine years old. They were kept and housed in a wing of the facility for immature omega. They were educated – both with the standard syllabus, and also specific training on how to be the best omega they could be. Arts and finery, if they were beautiful and smelt good or came from good lineage – or home economics if they were plain and poor. At sixteen, give or take, they hit mating age – heats began and scents matured. 

Like general aesthetic, different people preferred different smells. But once you bonded, your scent changed on a DNA level to become unattractive to everyone other than your bonded partner. Alphas lost their pheromone detectors almost entirely, their oversized olfactory cortexes instead becoming more attuned to the emotional changes in scents – there was a reason bonded alphas were preferred for any leadership position. 

But Prompto? Prompto still got to smell alphas, when they came in to meet the omegas at gatherings. He still craved the scents in his pre-heat, when he was building his nest. Unbound alphas were ‘ _encouraged_ ’ to donate blankets or shirts to the omega facilities, to assist omegas through their heats. He always got last pick – a punishment for being so old and still unbound. Not that he could do anything to change that, so it was unfair. 

But he never went to the public meets, or was selected for the private interviews with the wealthier alphas. “ _You **stink**!_ ” some of the crueler omegas taunted. “ _Nobody wants to think about mating when you’re around stinking of womb death!_ ” 

So he mostly looked after the young, nervous omegas, ran errands for the Aunts, and had the oh-so-thankful job of walking visiting alphas to the private meeting halls. 

“ _You make the other omegas smell more appealing_ ,” Aunt Monica explained – in a kind voice that meant she hadn’t been _trying_ to insult him. She’d actually thought she’d been kind to him by explaining that he stunk so much it made the not-broken omegas’ scents better by comparison. 

“What was he like?” 

He snapped from his thoughts. “Hm?” 

“The alpha prince. You said he was different. So what was he like?” 

Oh. Right. They’d been talking about Prince Noctis. Who was coming today. To pick a new omega. Because Lady Lunafreya had been removed. For unknown reasons. 

“He was quiet. Calm. Shy. People were always trying to fawn over him, but he always kept to himself.” To be honest, Prompto had thought he would present as an omega. 

He tried not to think about Prince Noctis much. It always came with an almost physical pain of regret and disappointment. He’d been asked by Lady Lunafreya to befriend Noctis – but after one disastrous meeting when they were children, he’d made the decision to be better. To become the kind of omega people wanted to be friends with. 

When it was time to start high school, he’d decided he was ready. But it had never happened, and instead he was trapped in the facility. The regret would live with him forever. 

“He doesn’t sound so bad,” she said, with a sigh of relief. With that small reassurance, she got ready with more energy. 

A very small, specific group of omegas had been selected for the prince’s bonding interviews. The gorgeous, blonde, slender omegas – with the most ‘arts’, instead of practical household skills. Rumour had it that Lady Lunafreya smelled like sylleblossoms, so the criteria for the less-than-perfect blondes was a floral smell in their scent. 

Prompto escorted the newly-matured omegas from the lower dorms to the fanciest meeting hall they had. Nothing less for the prince of their kingdom. The older omegas, the ones who had been to a meeting or two or more, were already there, arranging themselves to their most flattering angles for the prince’s arrival. 

Aunt Monica thanked him, and then sent him away to wait by the public doors. Not by the gates, even _he_ wasn’t to be risked so far out. But at the bottom of the stairs in the foyer. 

He had expected the prince to have changed a lot. To be tall and broad and muscular like the extra testosterone of alphas tended to make him. But he was around Prompto’s own height – he spotted as the prince began to walk up the marble stairs towards the glass doors – and quite slender. But _Astrals_ , was he beautiful. The placid but unbelievably perfect face like the statues carved of marble, surrounded by grey-black hair that fell about his face in feathery soft locks. Sublime, untouchable – like Prompto would die on the inside as soon as he looked away from him. 

But he had to. And he lived through it. He bowed, eyes politely averted, as Prince Noctis passed through the glass doors. “Prince Noctis,” he greeted. “Welcome to the Izunia Omega Facility. If you’d like to follow me, I can take you to the meeting room.” 

He got barely a grunt in response, and if he had to guess it was his scent already grossing the prince about. Three steps ahead of the alpha, to begin with, head lowered so the sheer black gauze of the uniform hood hid his expression. Deferent, a guide not a leader. Like most alphas, it wasn’t long until Prince Noctis was walking alongside him, just an inch or so forward, even though he didn’t know the direction they were going. 

His scent was as spectacular as he looked. The raw, musky smell of a virile alpha was a strong base – but it had a tantalizing bouquet to compliment. Something like fireworks and a woodsy, farm smell that reminded him of chocobo petting zoos. He felt horrified and embarrassed as he realized his own smell was rising to answer. 

“They let you walk alphas around, smelling like that?” The prince’s voice was totally unreadable. 

But _damn_ that was rude. He clenched his jaw, took a deep breath. Then he raised his eyes to meet the prince’s, through the gauze of his hood. “I’m a pre-bonded omega,” he answered. “It’s a discouragement tool to make sure visiting alphas aren’t too,” horny, “eager when they get to the meeting rooms.” 

“ _They should bottle your scent as an abstinence guarantee!_ ” More cruel jabs from uppity omegas. 

“Pre-bonded?” Prince Noctis asked – and there was an unreadable _something_ in his tone of voice. But then his eyes strayed down to Prompto’s wrist. He could never cover it up now, the barcode that proved he was an Empty must be available to everyone with eyes. “Oh.” 

They walked in silence for a long time, passing through the glass windows that threw afternoon light over the polished floors. 

The prince broke it first. “Why are you still here, if you’re pre-bonded?” He asked. 

“Omegas can’t leave the facility until they’ve been chosen and scent-marked,” he replied – in the exact tone the droning politician used every time he came to visit. He waved the barcode about to answer further, “my pre-bond is already mated. Stuck here forever, escorting around alphas who think it’s not rude to comment on how bad my scent is.” 

Even if he _was_ a viable omega, his sass would drive everyone off. Or maybe he’d just developed the sass as a defense technique to tell himself it didn’t matter either way. 

Then, without warning, Prince Noctis blurted out in an almost guilty whisper: “I’m a broken alpha.” Prompto jolted, turning to look at him directly with shock. “I’ve never been into rut, not even sure if I _can_ knot.” 

He looked at Prince Noctis. The gorgeous alpha, with status and wealth, and a scent to die for – and for a brief moment felt an almost painful stab of sympathy in his guts. He reached out to touch his hand soothingly – ignoring the spark of attraction that shot up his arm. And how Prince Noctis jolted and recoiled away from him. 

It twisted and settled low in his stomach like a rock. Right. He disgusted every alpha he came across. “Ruts and knotting isn’t everything,” he said, turning his face away so the gauze of his hood would hide his face again. “Betas survive without it. There used to be omega-omega relationships before the reforms, though we’re not supposed to know about them.” He shot a quick glance at the alpha, who was staring at his face intently through the gauzy hood. He felt his cheeks heat, knowing he was talking about something taboo. “Just saying. You’ve got everything else going for you. You’ll find an omega happy to take what you can give, not looking for something you can’t.” 

He came to a stop outside the grand meeting hall. The two of them stood there for a long moment, silent and not-quite looking at each other. “I should go in.” 

“Yeah.” 

Another long pause. “What’s your name?” The Prince asked, in an almost embarrassed rush. Like he thought he should’ve asked already. 

“Prompto,” he answered. He bowed slightly and gave him a reassuring smile. “Good luck.” 

He turned to walk away, tension hanging in the air. When he was barely a metre away, a sharp pain shot through his lower abdomen. It was sudden and painful enough that he stumbled, falling into the wall. He felt the gauzy hood fall back off his head, no doubt flooding the hallway with his scent as the fabric fell away from the scent glands in his neck. 

A hand touched his back, and he jerked his head around to spot…Prince Noctis? “You okay?” The prince asked, his voice low and concerned. 

“Mhm,” he answered, strained. He stood, easing into the sharp pain. “Just pre-heat cramps.” He cringed a little. “Sorry. TMI, right?” He gave him an easygoing smile. “Nothing I can’t handle. Go on, don’t keep the eligible omegas waiting?” 

Prompto limped his way towards the elevator, tugging his hood back up. He felt the prince’s eyes on him until he reached the double doors. 

Well. That couldn’t have been more embarrassing, he thought. And then immediately proved himself wrong as he tripped over his laces and tumbled into the elevator as the doors closed in a smooth movement. 

Damn it. 


	2. Dry Heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention that this was somewhat inspired by The Handmaid's Tale so.... there's some elements of that here.

Pre-heat was always a frustrating time for Prompto at the omega facility. Most of them had synched up to the same schedule, and the air in the cafeteria was laden with scents. The bursts of pheromones as omega bodies did their darndest to attract a mate despite the lack of alphas present; occasionally shot through with the heady scent of arousal as the softening, sensitizing body parts prepared for three to seven days of mating. 

But not him. He got painful cramps that got so bad they made him physically nauseous and various disgusted noises and looks if the surrounding culture of arousal made him even a little bit interested. And then there was the other reason. 

Gatherings and marriage interviews were always arranged as close to possible to the pre-heat, so the alphas could scent them at their best. So he got to be taunted by the sight of omegas whose white gauzy hoods were switched out for thick linen hoods with gauzy black veils that did nothing to hide their smug expressions. The Chosen. 

The coding wasn’t the law, but it was their uniform, and some more conservative packs inside Insomnia still followed the trend. White gauzy hoods, enough to tease glimpses and let out just enough scent, for unbonded omegas, faces bare and innocent. The thick linen white hoods and black gauzy veils for a chosen and awaiting mating omega – their scent belonged to their alpha (or, once upon a time, their beta or omega partner) and wasn’t to be shared. The scarlet red linen hoods for mated-but-unbonded omegas – another alpha _could_ challenge their current mate if the omega appealed, so their scents were contained as much as possible – rarely seen in the facility except for teachers or visiting officials’ omegas. And then the black gauze. For bonded omegas, unmated or not. Only Prompto and some of the teachers, or their caretakers – the Aunts – wore those in the facility. Bonded omegas lived with their bond partner’s pack. Unless you didn’t have one. 

He scanned faces and hoods. Trying to pick the perfect blonde woman who was set to be Prince Noctis’s omega. Would they know what they were in for? Or would Noctis wait until their mating to tell them. It wouldn’t be strange for a while. Lady Lunafreya had been spotted, occasionally – in places where there was a dress code – wearing the scarlet red veil of a mated-but-unbound omega. Omegas weren’t fertile until bonding, so plenty of couples waited years to bond until they were ready to have children. 

But the few women he saw that had new hoods weren’t any that had been picked to go to the marriage interview. Had Noctis chosen none of them? There was an omega facility in Lestallum too, maybe he’d go there to find one. A painful cramp in his abdomen had his hands tightening on his cutlery, white-knuckled. The omega near him shot him a disgusted look and moved further down the table from him. 

The plastic warped and he set them down on the tray. He stood up and picked up the tray, bussing it quickly and heading towards the doors. It was late enough, the soft-goods storage dispensary would be empty by now. 

He headed there, and the Aunt sitting behind the counter looked up as he arrived, covering her nose with the black gauze as he got close enough for his scent to reach her. _Atrals_ , did she have to be so rude about it? 

She checked the list. “There’s a few people ahead of you, but I’ll let you in.” She opened the half-door and let him in. Most of the shelves had been picked dry, but he was used to that. He didn’t even grab the one or two left that were hanging in the premium shelves. He went to the back corner, where the more niche scents were kept. 

He sniffed, without getting too close. Didn’t want his own scent contaminating them for leftover omegas. A blanket and a t-shirt caught his fancy, and he took them down from the shelf. He let the aunt check them off and hurried back to his room. 

Most omegas shared, two or three to a room once they reached maturity. Private nesting pods were available during heats, but the Aunts turned a blind-eye if the omegas shared a nest and – ahem – _helped_ each other through their heats. Prompto never had a roommate. 

The spare bed across the room was picked apart, sheets and pillows and the comforter, as well as his own. He dragged them to the heat pod across the hallway. It was low, no more than four feet high, the walls and floor were made of cotton-covered sponge. He packed it full with the soft bedding and headed to the medical dispensary. 

The beta nurse gave him a pitying look as he handed over his regular heat-pack. A bulk jar of medical lubricant, aspirin to keep his fever down, nutrient-rich food paste, and packs of electrolyte ice poles to keep in the freezer built into the floor. The aspirin and the food paste was standard issue – the rest was prescribed just for him. Omegas could take care of themselves during heats, for the most part. But not him. 

With his painful cramps and his dry heats, he spent three days _suffering_. He could do what he could with his hand on his cock and his fingers with the lubricant – but after only a few rounds everything was too hot and dry and _the chafing_. So it was three days of sweat and cramps and heaving until the heat finally broke. 

Could be worse, he thought, as he climbed into the pod. He wrangled the bedding into _just_ the right position for his optimal nest. Gently cupping around his body, like a soft embrace. He kicked off his clothes as his skin got prickly and oversensitive, digging out the alpha’s shirt from his supply box. 

He pulled it on over his head and pushed his arms through the sleeves. The musky alpha smell was nice, smelled like a good, sexy rut. The rest of the scent was give or take. Coffee and woodsy smoke, like a campfire. The fabric was soft, expensive, and he buried his nose in it to breathe as he slept. 

When he woke, his heat was in full force. He was hot and needy, stroking himself to a weak, sticky orgasm that did nothing to calm his want. But he busied himself away from his erogenous zones – eating, before the nausea set in, and aspirin to bring his temperature down. He felt empty, greedy for penetration – for something long and hard and hot inside him. The longer he put it off, the more the desire would consume him, but he _would_ put it off, as long as he could. 

Still clad in the alpha’s shirt, he squirmed about until he found the blanket too. He wrapped it tight around his body, grabbing some of the wool in his teeth and clenching his aching jaw around it. The same alpha’s scent flooded his face, and his hips twitched desperately in need for friction and movement. Fucking the softness around him in search of a hard, strong, virile mate. 

He felt delirious with heat and need. The heavier he breathed in the alpha’s scent, he noticed other smells underneath. An omega, with a bouquet of smoky wood and wildflowers. Mated, probably – but not bonded. His guts twisted in a primal jealousy, and in his thinking-brain he despaired. This was probably why the other omegas hadn’t wanted it, they’d probably smelled the competing omega before the alpha. 

He spat the blanket out of his mouth, turning his face away to breathe different air. His insides cramped painfully and he cried out, knees buckling. He did his best to sleep again. 

The second waking came on the edge of orgasm as he humped desperately into the padded floor underneath him. His face was buried in the corner of the alpha’s blanket – but this part didn’t smell like a competing omega. But there was a faint, other scent. Alpha too – but faint, like they’d sat on the blanket, or rested against it for a short amount of time before the alpha’s rut. Fireworks and livestock – the smell had him drooling and coming, hard, but his heat-swamped mind couldn’t think about it. It was familiar, somehow, but he couldn’t place why. 

Three days later, supplies depleted, body chafed but _finally_ calm, both the alpha scents were gone, overpowered by his own. 

The heat-aids were to be laundered and recycled – thought Prompto heard rumours that the best smelling ones were sold to a black market for alphas to enjoy. Not that his would ever be picked for it. Still, he stuffed everything from his nest in a vacuum-sealed bag and sent it down a laundry chute. 

He ignored his dorm room’s letterbox, showering off three days’ worth of sweat and spend and medical-grade lubricant before he felt even vaguely human again. Back into the uniform, plain dark-coloured clothes and the gauzy black hood that only half-masked his scent from unwilling noses. 

Back to rights, he blinked at the letterbox – a gilded card instructed him to attend a meeting with Aunt Monica, his caretaker. It was stamped and official, and everything. Maybe the council had finally approved his beta status! Glancing at the time, he swore and hurried out. Wouldn’t do to keep the Aunt waiting. 


	3. White

Prompto looked at his reflection, the image behind him left him feeling so alien. The hood felt so heavy – opaque linen after years of barely-there black gauze. He had tucked the black gauzy veil beside his face so he could get a good look in the mirror, but as he moved his hand away it covered the opening of the hood and distorted his view of the mirror. 

A white hood. A Chosen omega. He’d thought it had been a cruel prank when Aunt Monica had told him. One of the omegas had bribed a visiting alpha to pretend to pick him. And then he’d thought it had been some sort of mix-up. Nobody could have picked _him_ \- he didn’t go to any gatherings. 

But no. Aunt Monica had kept explaining, until he’d been convinced. An alpha had requested him, by name, by description, by their meeting. But it wasn’t just _anyone_.

 _Prince Noctis_ had chosen him. Asked for ‘Prompto’, the blond with the strange scent and the barcode, who’d led him to the meeting room. ‘Strange’ was the nicest way he’d ever heard it – but he supposed the prince couldn’t describe him insultingly if he was pretending to want him as an omega. 

“I don’t understand,” he said to her weakly. “He knows I’m Pre-Bonded. I told him I was, and that I was an Empty. Why did he ask?” 

She looked at him gently. “I suspect his highness isn’t looking for a bond, Prompto,” she said softly. “I had a very serious conversation with his advisor, made sure they were both aware of your particulars. But the prince is still an alpha with needs, and wants to go about things in the right way. I granted the approval – it’s a better situation than you could ever expect to get.” 

It’s not like he’d ever expected to be _asked_. And he was right about it being the best situation he could ever hope to get. He’d honestly expected he’d age out ad become an Aunt for the facility. But…

It was just _him_. He was nothing special. Why would the prince pick _him_? He hadn’t questioned Monica any further, just collected his new uniform and gone back to his room. 

It had been a week and he still wasn’t used it. But he was struggling his way to an understanding about the whole situation. Prince Noctis had already told him that he was a broken alpha, maybe he was just trying to contain that information to as few people as possible. A broken alpha and a pre-bond Empty – when he thought about it that simply, it was a good match. But Noctis was a _prince_ , and beautiful and smelled amazing – and he was a defective clone that made everyone feel _sick_ to smell him. 

Well, the citadel was large enough, he thought, maybe they’d have a nice private apartment for him that was scent-proofed. To keep him out of the way but publically aknowledged. He wouldn’t know until they actually came to collect him. 

It wasn’t unusual for omegas to stay in the facility for a couple weeks longer after being chosen. Mating traditionally took place during the alpha’s rut, and the rules meant that omegas couldn’t live outside the facility until their mating. But he got to hear the whispers of the omegas. 

_Thank the Astrals we don’t have to smell his _stink_ any more_ and _who the fuck would want **him**?_. That he could deal with – but it was what they said about Noctis that drove him wild. _He’s gotta be an omega in disguise! Why else would he want Stinky Prompto?_ and _poor guy. He must’ve bonded with Lady Lunafreya. He probably can’t even **smell** what he signed himself up for._

He, in the time-honoured tradition of Chosen omegas at the facility, pretended that he couldn’t hear through the linen of the hood. 

But what was the situation here? Noctis had said he’d never had a rut before, how long was he supposed to be waiting for this non-existent rut to come? 

There had to be some schedule in place. People would notice if the prince didn’t confine himself for a couple days every month. But he’d never heard when it might be. Surely the Aunts knew, they would’ve put it down in their documentation and everything. Did they really not think it was important for _him_ to know? _He_ was the one whose life was about to get thrown on its head. 

He headed out to the cafeteria for breakfast, ignoring the almost-jealous looks he got from the other omegas as he passed. Many of them didn’t think it was fair, that he was the one who was chosen when there were plenty of _viable_ omegas the prince could have picked. One of them had braved the smell of his rooms the past two nights to folding his bed-sheets up so he couldn’t get in. Switching his sugar out for salt and putting jelly in the toes of his shoes. Small, bitter pranks – bored and jealous omegas with nothing better to do while they _waited_ for their own turn at being _chosen_. 

Before the reforms, omegas had a choice in the picking. Alphas courted them, with meals and gifts and shared experiences. _Dates_. The longer an alpha courted an omega, the more it was expected it would lead to an eventual mating, and then bonding. But after one or two or three dates it was acceptable for an omega to reject the suitor. 

Now they met once, at a public gathering more often than not, and then an alpha declared to the facility who they wanted out of the – what was a group of omegas called? A _herd_? – gathered omegas. Their capacity for housing an omega was assessed – could they feed the omega and provide them with clothes? – and then on the day their rut was due, the omega was taken from the facility and delivered to their new pack. 

Like picking fruit at a grocery store. Prompto remembered when he used to have to do that. 

His parents, mated male betas, had jobs that kept them away from home more often than not. When he’d presented, he was adult enough to take care of himself. He’d lived at home – and the old omega who lived beside him with her daughter’s pack had been concerned. An omega wasn’t safe on their own. But he’d been fine. Self-sufficient and capable. If any alphas had oggled him, he’d told them off. They’d backed off. 

But the teachers here had told him he was vulnerable. That as soon as he presented he would be prey to alphas, that his body and his assignment made alphas unable to control themselves. Other omegas had tried to argue, and they’d been talked down to like children. It wasn’t _their_ fault they didn’t understand the ways that alphas worked, they were just omega. They could never understand. 

That was why they had to be _protected_. Made safe here, in their haven. Their facility. The only safe place outside was under an alpha. Or under the protection of an alpha, right. 

He was glad when he’d graduated and hadn’t been forced to sit through that propaganda bullshit for two hours every day any longer. But the scary part was the young omegas who _believed_ it. How long did it take to brainwash a nation? 

He took his tray from the omegas behind the counters. They had jobs on rotation, but Prompto had been politely excluded from…well, all of them. Food service, and laundry, and janitorial. He worked briefly in the library, before omegas started complaining that the books smelled. When they still had a library, that was. Before they decided that their constitutions were too delicate for the content in the books. (Suspcioulsy enough it was decided _the week after_ some omegas were caught reading a romance novel that had a long, detailed sex scene between an unmated omega and alpha.) 

The apple on his breakfast tray was bruised, he could tell just by a single look. But a least the oatmeal didn’t look burned today, that shit was inedible. His milk cup was empty, _again_. He sat down, on the far end of one empty table, and tucked the veil beside his face to eat. 

He glanced up in shock when a Chosen omega sat across from him, tucking her veil aside in a similar fashion. Nobody sat with him, what was this? She gave him a gentle smile, and he noticed her cup of milk was empty too. Maybe it wasn’t just _him_ getting bullied then. 

“When’s your date?” She asked, as she picked up the plastic spoon on her tray. 

“Don’t know,” he murmured back to her. “Did they tell you?” 

She shook her head, just faintly. It barely even moved her hood. “But didn’t your alpha give you a hint? At the gathering?” 

He wondered if it was even possible she hadn’t heard who he was. He was one of only two male omegas in the facility, and the other was barely twelve years old. He glanced up at her face. Astrals, she was young. She’d probably only _just_ matured. 

“No,” he answered quietly. “Are you a transfer from Lestallum?” It was rare. Usually for omegas from rich, or well-connected families. The Lesatllum Omega Facility gave the omega’s family final approval on all offers. So the families that could afford to kept their omegas there, rejecting all offers, until they had a trusted or pedigree alpha of age and sent them to make an offer. If they were from court, the newly Chosen omega was brought to the Izunia Facility to wait out for their alpha’s mating age. 

“Yes,” she replied, surprised. “I’m Iris.” 

“Promtpo,” he answered. 

She blinked in surprise. She leaned across the table, murmuring: “I’ve heard your name. You’re going to be part of my big brother’s pack.” 

He jolted, surprised. Then he leaned closer, confused. “What do you mean? Are you related to the prince?” 

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “My brother is his second.” 

Second. Only in rich important packs was there a second. An alpha, ranked below the first alpha – who was obviously Noctis in this scenario. Other class packs weren’t stable enough to maintain that sort of structure. It tended to stay within the court or the very rich – where money or position decided who was the alpha and who was the second. 

“Is he… nice?” Prompto whispered. Surely she had met Prince Noctis before, if her brother was pack. 

“Gladdy?” She asked. “Yeah. He’s nice. As long as you don’t get between him and Iggy. Or piss him off.” 

Standard alpha stuff. He hadn’t _meant_ her brother, but it was still reassuring to know something about where he was going. Iggy must be his omega. But if there was an omega in the pack already, why weren’t they Noctis’s mate? 

“Will we see each other?” He murmured, something like relief growing in his chest. That he would know _someone_ where he was going. 

She smiled and, under the table, reached to touch his knee. “Yeah. We won’t live far from one another. I’m sure we’ll be great friends.” 

One of the Aunts approached the table and Iris hurriedly removed her hand. “Prompto,” she announced. “Today’s the day. You’re being picked up from the foyer in half an hour.” 

His heart began to thunder in his chest. “Today?” He’d been expecting _more time_. Some sort of _warning_ , one or two days before. 

“Half an hour,” the aunt repeated, and stood by to wait for him. 

He hurriedly untucked his veil, glancing through the black haze at Iris – who beamed at him and gave him a thumbs up. “Good luck, Prompto.” 

Why did he feel like he’d need it?


	4. Escape Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Ignis's birthday today! Enjoy the retelling of Ignis and Gladio's deciding to mate.... that got way longer than I expected it to be.

In truth, Ignis had always been intended to become the prince’s omega. He’d been genetically tested, when he was born – like all the other families of the citadel. When Noctis was just a boy, Ignis had been presented to him by the king. 

They’d grown up together and as soon as he learned them, Ignis took over the tasks he’d serve as his omega come adulthood. Arranging his daily tasks, laying out his clothes, providing his meals, maintaining the pack home. The sexual tasks would come when they were both at maturity, under the assumption they suited each other. 

But it hadn’t turned out as planned. When he was eighteen, the omega laws had changed. He’d gotten a warning from the politicians as soon as the laws got signed into effect. Every unmated omega was to be rounded up and taken to a facility to be contained until any alpha could pick him up as they chose. 

He had hours, at most. Noctis was already at school, and even if he weren’t… he hadn’t even had his first rut yet. There was only one person he knew and trusted enough to go to with that. 

He stood anxiously outside the closed doors. He tried to stay cool, calm and collected, in every aspect of his life. But this? This could go badly and he would have wasted his time. 

He shifted on his feet restlessly. He raised his hand up to knock. Then he hesitated and lowered his hand again. This was a bad idea, he should get a back-up plan and prepare for that. Just in case. 

He took a deep breath and took a step back. 

The door opened and Gladiolus Amicitia glared out at him, jaw clenched. “Ignis. I’m going into rut, unless you’re coming in to give me a hand, piss off. You smell too good to be hanging around outside my door right now.” 

“Ah.” He may be frazzled, but he was never _that_ disorganized. “Your rut has shifted again. Are you courting an omega?” If he was, that ruined all of his tentative plans. 

Gladio grunted impatiently. Ignis had made a habit, long before his own maturity, to only breathe through his mouth when he was around the older alpha. He had a pre-determined role to fulfil, he couldn’t let his desire and instincts distract from that. But even through that, the musky, arousing scent was still coating his tongue. It was _unfair_ how enticing Gladio was. 

“No,” he said. “No courting. Have you been speaking to my father?” He asked irritably. 

“Not about your bonding prospects.” He shifted restlessly. “May I come in? I would prefer not to have this discussion in the hallway.” 

“Fine,” the alpha yanked the door open to let him pass by. “If you leak, you’re leaving your briefs for me to jerk off with.” 

Ignis felt his cheeks heating as he passed by – from his words, the implication, and the scent absolutely suffocating the room. “Must you be so vulgar?” 

He glanced around and settled down on one of the wooden seats, no fabric to soak, easier to wipe down. He’d known Gladiolus almost since birth – the alpha was just a year older than him, and they’d crown up in the court together. Their families were part of the core families in Insomnia’s royal pack. They always had high positions, close to the royal family. He was well aware by now the reaction to the alpha. 

He had long since suspected the alpha had a similar attraction – the flirting and innuendos had to come from some place of truth. It was rather what he was banking on in this situation. 

Gladio sat almost as far across the room as he could. “What do you _want_ Ignis? You know better than to taunt an alpha in rut.” 

“We both know I can take you in a fight,” Ignis replied impatiently. “If this wasn’t an important, time-sensitive matter, I would wait. But, alas, I don’t have any other option at this stage.” 

“Spit it out then, Iggy.” Gladiolus had shifted, leaning towards him instinctively. _He desires me._

“You’ve heard about the Izunia Omega Reforms?” Ignis asked, his jaw setting as he began to speak of it. 

He grunted. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it.” His handsome face, intersected with the raw pink of his healing scar, furrowed into a scowl. “It’s ridiculous, and insulting. Like omegas _and_ alphas can’t control their Astrals’ damned instincts. It’ll never go through.” 

“It passed this morning,” Ignis interrupted the oncoming tirade. 

Gladio stiffened, his expression falling slack for a moment in shock. He hadn’t seen it coming – so few of them had even _known_ about it, let alone consider it could pass. “Amendments?” He asked, his gruff voice oddly weak in the wake of the news. 

“None,” he replied, taking off his spectacles and put them aside. “Every unbonded omega in the kingdom has to be taken to a secure facility until an alpha picks them as a partner.” 

“Surely you…”

“There’s never been any official claim,” Ignis interrupted him again. He took a deep breath and got to his feet. “And even if it did, until they have precedent we don’t know if a claim would even be enough.” He carefully crossed the room, until he was standing before the alpha. “Will you help me, Gladiolus?” 

The alpha had switched to breathing through his mouth. “Do you know what you’re asking me, Ignis?” 

Feeling daring, like he could only ever _be_ with Gladio, he raised one leg to plant his foot on the cushioned seat beside the alpha’s hips. “I’m asking you to _fuck_ me, Gladio,” he replied, his voice low and husky with the arousal the alpha could probably _smell_. Did it drive him as distracted as his scent did to him? “To fuck me, and bite me and _mate_ me – and when the guards come for me, to _fight_ to keep me by your side.” 

The low growl he got in response was pained, but _so aroused_. A strong, callused hand grabbed his ass – yanking him closer. His hard cock pressed Gladio’s face – he threw his head back and gasped in pleasure. 

“Is that a yes?” He groaned out, trying not to whimper as he ground his hard cock into the stubbled cheek. 

“No, you bastard.” The growl rumbled through Ignis’s crotch, and until the pleasure passed he didn’t realise the answer. 

“What do you mean, _no_?” He asked, attempting to step back. 

In a swift motion, he found himself pinned on his back underneath the alpha. One knee was raised, pinned up against his own shoulder, letting the alpha press his clothed crotch against his rear. _Fuck,_ it was so arousing. He felt his inner muscles clench, and then release warm slick into his loosening entrance. 

“Iggy, are you _wet_ for me?” Gladio growled, his voice twisted with pleased surprise. “It’s not your _heat_.”

Irritated by his vulnerability, Ignis gave one quick movement and flipped them. He pinned Gladio underneath him, knee pressing into his chest to keep him down. “You don’t get to tell me _no_ then pin me down, Gladiolus,” he snarled. “I don’t _have time_ for games. I need to find a mate or get away from the city.” 

Gladio watched him. “Who else are you going to beg to fuck you, Ignis? Who else is gonna be your stop-gap until the prince gets old enough to mate you himself?” 

Ignis paused. Something about the tone of the alpha’s voice made him hesitate. “Just you, Gladiolus,” he replied, shifting his knee aside to settled down on the alpha’s abdomen. “There’s no one else. No one else I’d trust… no one else I’d _want_.” He gripped a hand into the growing tail of hair at the back of the alpha’s head. “If it’s not you, it’s a flight for my life.” 

Gladio’s hands gripped tightly at his thighs, and his hips bucked up with the primal urge to fuck. “Just me,” he growled, sounding possessive. But then his next comment was petulant: “until Noctis pops his knot.” 

Ignis wrinkled up his nose in digust. “You’re so _vulgar_.” He shifted to get up, but the alpha’s hands clamped down tightly to keep him in place. “You told me _no_ , Gladiolus. Let me go, window of opportunity is closing.” 

“You’re killing me here,” the alpha growled. Their mixing scents filled the room – the alpha’s rut, and their combined arousal. 

“You don’t _want_ me!” 

“Of course I **want** you, Ignis.” He emphasized his point with a buck of his hips, primal and powrful. 

“What, then?” Ignis asked impatiently. “Are you afraid of the guards?” 

“I’m not afraid of some parliament guards,” he growled. “I’d fight the king _himself_ to have you.” 

“Then why are you rejecting me?” Ignis hissed. 

“Because I’m not going to _fake mate you_ , Ignis.” He flipped them again, pressing his hips against the omega’s ass. Slick was starting to soak through his briefs and the silk of his trousers. “I’ve wanted you since we were eight years old. I didn’t _care_ if we ended up presented differently than the tests said. I've never stopped wanting you, and knowing one day I have to watch _Noctis_ bond with you.” He licked a desperate strip up Ignis’s scent glands, a spark of pleasure firing down his spine at the sensation. “So, **no** , Ignis. I’m not going to mate you today so in a few years I can lose you anyway.” 

He shuddered, yanking him aside so they were lying together on the carpet – on their sides. Keeping his neck away from Gladio’s mouth. “So what are you _saying_ , Gladio? All or nothing?” 

“If I mate with you today,” the alpha replied, breath heaving his chest, “then no one else can have you. I want to be your bondmate, Ignis. For _life._ If you expect me to give you up so you can be Noct’s omega in a few years time then **no**. I’ll carry you out the door and lock it shut before this goes too far.” 

Ignis closed his eyes tightly to weigh his options. He could hardly see without his glasses, but he could smell just fine. Gladio smelt deep in his rut, aroused and desperate. But just faintly, there was the sour smell of his upset. He wanted to curl into the alpha, kiss him until it went away. He’d felt that way for years. 

“This is a terrible idea,” Ignis answered, gripping his hands in the fabric of the alpha’s shirt. “This is going to be a political mess. The king himself could sever the bond and punish you for taking Noct’s mate. There’s been no back-up plan to find another mate.” 

Gladio sat up. “Did you just…?”

“Don’t bond me,” Ignis said, reaching for his shirt. “I’ll be in heat next week and I’m not anywhere close to being in a stable enough position to have children.” 

When the guards burst in an hour later, it was to see Ignis being gleefully taken in the alpha’s bed – bite mark still red and raw at his scent glands. 

The alpha growled and pelted a pillow in their direction. “Piss off! We’re _busy_.”

The guards looked at each other uncertainly and slowly backed out of the room. 

Ignis Scientia and Gladiolus Amicitia would be the first challenge to the new omega laws – and their mating would set the precedent for the rest of the omegas in the facilities. A full bonding wasn’t required for them to be released to the alpha’s pack, but every mated pair had to eventually bond. Another alpha could challenge the mating claim if they intended to bond, but it was up to the two competing alphas to fight it out. 

Ignis helped King Regis arrange a political mating between Noctis and the Lady Lunafreya, and he expected his work in Noctis’s love life to be done with. 


	5. Pick Up

“Noct, are you sure about this?” Ignis had asked this question over a dozen times over the past week, and though he always received a firm response, he didn’t feel any more reassured about the whole situation. 

Gladio had teased him, the second time he’d asked. “Iggy’s just feeling territorial. Another omega in his pack? It’s driving him wild.” 

Noctis hadn’t played along. “It’s either this or I take _him_ as my mate instead.” 

Gladio hadn’t joked about it again after that. It was something they _never_ joked about. 

The latest reiteration came as Ignis took up the car keys, on his way to collect Noct’s new omega from the Izunia facility. “It’s a little late to be asking that _now_ isn’t it, Iggy?” Gladio asked, looking up from his book. “The omega would be ready to be picked up already.” 

“Until the mating has taken place, the omega laws still leave it open for the alpha to change their mind about their choice.” Ignis pointed out, fiddling with the red hood he had to wear to go into the Izunia Facility. Utterly ridiculous. 

Noct gave him a blank-faced look. “Yes, Specs. I’m sure. Prompto is the omega I want to take from the Izunia facility. Yes, I know it’s a politically disadvantaged match. Yes, I know that he’ll have no clue how to act amongst the nobles. Yes, I’m aware he’s an Empty and we’ll probably never have a proper mating.” He sounded bored with the questions – and he ought to. They had this conversation multiple times in the week since Noctis had come home and announced he’d picked an omega. 

That had never been the goal in sending Noctis to the Izunia. Ignis had been intercepting the pressure from the Council for the Protection of Omegas for Noctis to ‘ _lead by example_ ’ and ‘ _embrace the proper way to fulfil his duties as an alpha_ ’. Nobody else knew, outside of the king and Gladio, about Noctis’s alpha dysfunctions. They never spoke of it out loud, but every month when Noctis’s publicly scheduled rut time came around, they were all aware of it. Ignis had tried to suggest, a couple years ago, that they trust a genetic researcher with his condition – so they could discover precisely what the cause was. But Noctis had refused. 

Noctis had presented and matured like a regular alpha. But after his first rut, the half-rut and knotting that signaled an alpha’s maturity, there had been nothing. He functioned sexually much like a beta – and his marriage with Lady Lunafreya had been consummated. Once Lord Ravus had discovered that there was no mating – and no likely prospect of a proper bonding in the future – he had demanded Lady Lunafreya’s return. Though reluctant to part, the Prince and Lady had agreed to separate. Noct, too, wanted her to live her life to her fullest desires. Lady Lunafreya wanted _children_ , and the only way she could have that was if she bonded. So she had parted, and King Regis and Ignis had worked tirelessly to maintain the alliance between their kingdom despite Lord Ravus’s offense. 

Ignis had fended off the council’s questions easily at first, claiming that Noctis was too emotionally invested in his broken mating to be interested in a new omega. But they had begun to make unkind insinuations about Noctis’s strength as a ruler, his virility. It was when Izunia himself had suggested, in a private moment during a ball, that perhaps Noctis wasn’t capable of mating an omega at all. That had signaled the advisor that their time to comply had come. 

He organised a private interview at the facility for Noctis, but made sure to inform the prince that he was not to feel pressured to pick one. He would afterwards inform the Izunia facility that his highness would be seeking a mate at the Lestallum Facility instead. Probably throw in a few allusions to how his highness thought the way they conducted the choosing was more ethical. He’d even asked Gladio to speak with his father about possibly picking Iris – she was secure at the Lestallum Facility. 

But his alpha had given a flat no. “ _Iris has had a crush on Noct since she was a little girl. She could never come into a situation with him clear of any expectations. She’d never be happy in a false mating, and I couldn’t let her agree to it._ ” 

Ignis had tried to press the matter – if they explained the situation to her, she could make her own decision based upon the full facts. But Gladio has been resolute – “ _besides. One of Jarred’s grandchildren has just presented as an alpha. My father wants him to be her alpha_.” 

Despite Ignis’s best attempts – debating, determination, _and_ seduction – he hadn’t been able to persuade his alpha to his side of the argument. 

But the point had become moot. When Noctis had returned from his visit to the Izunia Facility, he’d announced that he’d decided on one of the omegas there. And the advisor’s questioning had begun. 

“Ignis,” Noctis said tiredly, as the omega hesitated his departure once more. “You are literally the first pioneer of omega rights under the law reforms. I didn’t think you would suggest taking advantage of the crappy loopholes like that.” 

He pushed up his glasses, pursing his lips at the implied insult. “I would ensure I found a replacement for them.” 

“You wouldn’t,” he murmured. “He’s _my_ age, Ignis. He’s been stuck there since the laws changed. He’s an _Empty_.”

“I know a number of people who want an omega to avoid pressure from the Omega Council, who also owe me a favour. I can arrange it, let me take care of it for you, Noct.” 

The prince frowned at him. “No, Ignis,” he said, using a firm Alpha voice. “I’ve made my decision, and I’ve picked _him_. So you can go pick him up or I’ll drive _myself_.”

Ignis scowled. “Fine. I’m going. But I would like to declare that I believe this to be a _tremendously_ bad idea.” 

“Yeah, we got that Iggy.” Gladio closed his book and stood, stretching. “I’ll walk you to the car.” 

“Will you?” He challenged, raising one firm eyebrow. 

Gladio grunted. “ _May_ I walk you to the car, dear omega of mine?” 

“You may.” He adjusted the hood around his neck and waited for his alpha to open the door for him. “You should prepare yourself for the mating, your highness,” he said with a grim tug at his lips. “Nobody is forcing you to have sex with him,” he commented, “but they will expect your scents to begin mingling, and you really ought to bite him to maintain appearances.” 

“ _Fine_ , Specs. Just _go_ already. I’ll go have one of those stupid baths with the scented oils.” Noct complained, waving them off. He turned off his video game and climbed out of his bean bag, heading towards his bedroom. 

Ignis just sighed and followed Gladio out of their ‘den’. It was called a den, because it was the private residence belonging solely to their pack. But it was one floor of an elite apartment building, scent-proofed to the highest current ability. It was the penthouse, so they had exclusive access to the roof as well. 

Once they were in the elevator, Gladio pressed him against the wall of the elevator. The alpha tugged the hood away from his neck and started mouthing at hi neck and scent glands. 

“Don’t turn me on, Gladiolus,” he warned. “I’m about to drive. To an _omega facility_ sponsored by the very man who brought these contemptible laws into being.” 

“I want you to walk in smelling like me,” Gladio answered, running the flat of his tongue all over the scent glands. “So no one will dare question if you should belong there or not.” 

He closed his eyes, letting himself slump into his alpha gratefully. He may not have come into their mating with the same depth of feeling as his alpha, but his had soon grown to match. He didn’t allow himself to show much affection around Noctis, but in their private movements, he let himself draw the comfort and physical affection he craved. "If I'm not returned in three hours, you know to storm the facility to claim me back, Gladiolus.” 

“Mm. I’m giving you two.” He nipped at the white bite scar across Ignis’s neck. “Try and say hello to Iris, if you can spot her, okay?” 

“I promise.” He kissed the underside of Gladio’s jaw and stepped away as the elevator settled to a stop at the basement carpark level. 

The sleek sports car drove like a dream – though nowhere near as nicely as the king’s Regalia. The facility was a twenty minute’s drive away, and once he parked in the lot, he pulled the red hood up over his head. Ridiculous, dress standards like they were nuns. 

He walked up the marble stairs and pushed into the foyer. A disgusting smell hit his noise as soon as he entered, and he immediately switched to breathing through his mouth. There were only two people waiting – a white-hooded omega, one of the omegas who had passed breeding age, dressed in grab khaki colours. They called them ‘Aunts’ – like maiden aunts who never married in the old days. 

He gave a discrete, brief sniff to gather their scents, and his suspicions were confirmed. It was the omega who had such an awful scent. _Noct, what on earth were you thinking?_

He addressed the aunt, since technically they couldn’t speak to one another until they left the facility. “Are there any belongings to be collected?” 

The aunt handed over a vacuum-sealed package. “The items taken in initial processing. Nothing more.” 

Astrals. This place was insane. 

He took the bag and tucked it into the crook of his elbow. “Very well. Any friends to say goodbye to?” 

She glanced at the hooded omega for an answer, and all she got in reply was a hesitant “no”. _No friends? Really?_

“Very well. Say goodbye then, Aunt.” 

He stood aside, trying not to watch as the omega bowed awkwardly and mumbled a thanks to her and followed Ignis out of the facility. He did not want to get in the car with the strong scent, but there was no way to avoid it. He held the back door open, at least he wouldn’t be forced to sit in the car. 

Once they were processed through the security gate, Ignis yanked his hood off, tossing it into the passenger seat beside him. “Astrils, that place gives me the _creeps_.”

“Imagine living there.” The omega muttered. 

Ignis gave a soft huff of amusement, and glanced at him briefly in the rearview mirror. “You don’t have to wear that, you know,” he commented. “You may remove it at any time.” 

The omega shifted awkwardly. “Naw,” he replied quietly, his face still obscured by the veil covering the gap in his hood. “I don’t wanna stink out your nice car more than I gotta.” He tugged at the sleeves of his drab, grey clothing. “It’s worse with the hood off.” 

Ignis glanced at him again, and turned his attention to the road once more. No wonder Noct had commented that he had been able to get an alpha. Male omega were rare, prized – but a smell like that would turn anyone off. 

“Are you Iggy?” 

He jolted at the question. “Pardon?” 

He could feel the omega’s eyes on the back of his head. “I met Iris inside. She said the prince had a second, Gladdy – and his omega was called Iggy.” 

He paused at the traffic lights to glance back at him. “You spoke to Iris?” The omega nodded, and he turned his head back around to concentrate on driving. “Ignis,” he confirmed. “And only Iris is allowed to call him Gladdy. Gladiolus, or Gladio for short.” 

“Right.” There was another stilted silence. “Why aren’t you Noctis’s mate?” The omega asked in a hesitant voice. 

He wasn’t entirely unsurprised by the question. “I’ll tell you now, because you’d do better not to bring it up in front of Gladio.” He pushed his glasses up his nose, back into place. “Noctis was not of mating age when the omega reforms were passed,” he answered. “Gladiolus and I mated instead.” 

“Oh.” Another long pause. “So it’s not because he’s…” He trailed off. 

Ignis, always a steady driver, nearly slammed on the brakes. “He **told** you?” 

The omega reached forward to catch himself from slamming forward into the car seat. “He told me,” he mumbled. “Am I… in legal trouble for knowing?” 

“No,” Ignis ground out. How many people had Noctis told? What if they had been overheard? If Noctis’s virility was called into question, there could be _serious_ political fallout. 

“I wouldn’t tell anyone,” the omega said weakly. “It’s… It’s a good arrangement, I guess. I'm a pre-bonded Empty and he’s…” He trailed off again. 

Pre-bonded? Curious. Very little was known about the Empties. They were clones, made by Besithia in the Niflheim mountains. All of them omegas, like Besithia himself. He had intended to sell them to the highest bidder, but the facility had been shut down. He’d heard that some of the omegas had been taken from the facility. But Besithia had been bonded at the time, so it was possible that on a DNA level, the Empty omega would be pre-bonded. 

“That would explain the smell,” Ignis said, and then paused to see if the omega was offended. 

“Don’t know how the prince plans to deal with the smell,” the omega said with a playful, self-deprecating lilt to his voice. He didn’t know what to say to that, so stayed silent. “It’s Prompto, by the way,” the omega mumbled. “Prompto Argentum.” 

“Pleasure to meet you, Prompto.” 

This was going to be complicated. Noctis owed him _big time_.


	6. Preparations

“This isn’t the citadel.” 

The other omega – Iggy, no Ignis – glanced at him as he navigated the fancy car into an underground carpark. “Noct has lived outside of the citadel since high school,” he answered. “Did you expect to live in the citadel?” There was something almost judgmental in his tone of voice. 

“Astrals no,” Prompto replied, a tight knot of anxiety easing in his stomach. “I’d have no idea what to do in the citadel.” Not that he’d have any more ideas about what to do in a fancy place like this either. 

Ignis parked the car and turned the engine off. Prompto peeked out at him as subtly as he could manage. He’d only seen one other male omega in his life, and that was the presented one in the Izunia Facility he’d only glanced once or twice from a distance. 

Ignis was a lot taller than he expected an omega to be. Omegas were supposed to be small and demure. But Ignis’s shoulders were quite slim, as expected, and he was a slender sort of muscular, with broader hips. He was beautiful though, with classically handsome features. Not to mention the smell – cool and fresh, like the wilderness, with a smoky, woody scent. 

He made Prompto insanely jealous. There was a reason most packs only had one alpha. Alphas were generally placid together, once the hierarchy had been established. But if more than one of them mated… 

It wasn’t about hierarchy. Prompto knew from the very beginning Ignis would be above him. But he couldn’t fight off the jealousy – the competitive edge. If Ignis wanted _his_ alpha, he could easily entice Noctis away. It made him feel anxious, unsettled – insecure. 

Ignis frowned at him through the window. “It’s not child-locked you know,” he commented dryly, his voice muffled through the car door. “You can open the door.” 

“Right. Sorry.” He fumbled for the handle, unable to see it in the dark of the carpark, with his vision still obscured by the veil. He stood up, tugging at his clothes uncomfortably. Ignis was dressed in like a fancy business suit, but without the tie. He felt drab and ugly in comparison. 

The older omega led him over to the elevator. He swiped a card and the button for the top floor lit up. “I’ll assist you with your bathing preparations before the ceremony.” 

Right. Prompto felt a nervous twist in his stomach. He licked his lips slightly, glancing at the omega again. “Your ceremony went fine, didn’t it?” 

Ignis shifted and cleared his throat. “I may have… neglected that aspect of my mating,” he commented, pushing up his spectacles. “I was constrained for time. But I’m educated in all the aspects, and can assist you.” 

“Oh.” Great. He’d wanted to ask for advice on what to do. The doors parted upon a fancy living room. 

There was a low gag of disgust. “Astrals, Iggy. What the fuck did you bring home? It _stinks_.”

Prompto flinched, but he tensed and stayed still instead of following the urge to walk away and hide. This wasn’t the facility. This was his alpha’s _den_. He couldn’t leave now. 

“The bathroom is through there, I’ll join you in a moment.” Ignis gestured him in the direction of the bathroom and headed towards the direction of the voice. 

Prompto headed to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. The scents from the rest of the house didn’t pierce through here, so he felt safe enough to finally remove his hood. 

“ _A bath is prescribed, before the mating,_ ” the tutor had explained. A red haired man called Chancellor Ardyn had taught them about the mating ceremonies, and Prompto had been almost _uncomfortable_ about the way the beta had looked at them while he spoke. “ _You must wash away your old life, to prepare yourself to begin anew in your rightful place. First, you must clean yourself – in a shower or a first draw in a bath. But if you re-use the same bath, you must scrub it clean with salt._ ”

So… a shower. It was a beautiful thing, of black marble tiles, glass, golden fixtures and a luxurious showerhead larger than his face. It was also pre-prepared for him – the caddy filled with a pumice stone from Ravotaugh, an unscented soap and a razor to remove any unsightly hair. 

Like most omegas he couldn’t really grow proper facial hair, and his body hair was minimal. But he manscaped, just a little, since he was _pretty_ sure the mating ceremony involved eventual sex. 

While he was scrubbing down his skin with the soap and pumice, Ignis entered the room. He gave Prompto a cursory nod and moved to fill up the huge bath in the middle of the room. It was more like a pool, tiled in the same black marble. As he ran the water, the water pressure didn’t even change – this place was _amazing_.

He turned off the shower, and shivered in the suddenly cold air. Ignis was similarly naked, and Prompto tried not to seethe with jealousy. His skin was soft and pale beneath the prim uniform – completely umblemished. Almost completely unmarked but for two sets of bite marks – on his neck over his scent-glands in scarred white, and a red-raw healing mark on his inner thigh. 

“Careful on the tiles.” 

There were scents in the air from oils and herbs mixed into the bath water. Sandalwood and ginger and midnight jasmine and the sharp bite of liquorice – and he could see the petals of blush-roses floating on the surface of the water. With any luck they’d do decent job to cover his scent enough it didn’t completely kill the mood. 

Prompto crossed over, uncomfortably covering his crotch with his hands. But Ignis didn’t even glance in his direction, busy shifting about with different bottles of oil. 

“ _It is an alpha’s responsibility to provide the anointing oils for your ceremonial bath,_ ” Chancellor Ardyn had explained. “ _You must bathe in the oils, so they infuse your skin and hair with the traditional scents_.” 

He carefully slipped down into the pool. It was almost too hot, he could feel his face growing flushed with the change in temperature. It submerged him up to his nipples, which peaked and then softened in the warm water. 

“Come here,” Ignis said in a gentle, nurturing voice. “I’ll anoint your hair and face.” 

It was a strange, almost uncomfortably intimate scene. He’d never been so close to anyone, not even his adopted parents. The other omega’s hands were gentle and soft, smoothing oil across his face, his shoulders, and into his hair. But he carefully avoided his neck. Probably didn’t want to get his scent over his fingers. 

“There,” he murmured, washing his hands into the water. “Here is your towel, I’ll fetch the lotion.” 

“ _After the bath, you will moisturize your entire body with the ceremonial lotion. You may want to take this opportunity to prepare yourself for the physical joining that is tantamount to the mating ceremony._ ”

“Um… Ignis?” He asked, glancing over at the other omega. “Can I, uh, ask you some advice?” 

“You may,” he answered, carefully straightening out a silk robe. 

“How should I prepare for the um…” He shifted restlessly in the water. “Physical, you know… _act_.”

Ignis glanced back at him. “You mean to say you’ve never…?” 

He blushed and looked away. “In the facility, no one really wanted to… _you know_. With me. ‘cause of the smell.” 

“Oh.” Ignis set down the robe and came over to him. “You’ve had heats, yes?” 

He got out of the water and wrapped himself in one of the large, soft fluffy towels. “Yes,” he said quietly. “But they were… _dry_.”

The other omega winced. “My sympathies.” He brought him over and started towel-drying his hair. “Do you still have the… _need_ for penetration during a dry heat?” 

Prompto flushed and nodded. “Y-yeah.” 

“And you tended to that urge, yes? Fingers alone or were you able to find an aid?” _Astrals_ , how did he sound so calm and clinical about this kind of stuff? 

“Just fingers,” he mumbled. “For a little while. Until it hurt and I had to stop.” 

The other omega nodded. “Well, using your fingers…”


	7. Mating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did intend for the mating to be more detailed but the words just weren't having it. Noct didn't want to share.

Noct fiddled restlessly with his phone, one leg bouncing impatiently in place. Ignis had been in the bathroom with Prompto for _ages_. He was getting nervous, psyching himself out. Even despite Gladio’s pep-talk earlier while the alpha helped him with his preparations for the ceremony. Or maybe because of it. 

“There you are,” Gladio said, sitting up. Moments before Ignis stepped into the sitting room. 

“Apologies,” he answered, coming to sit by his alpha. “There was an unexpected delay in preparing Prompto for the ceremony.” 

“Prompto? Is that their name?” Gladio asked, wrapping an arm around him. 

“Indeed. That’s his name.” Ignis gently kissed his neatly trimmed beard. “Shall we leave the newlyweds to their ceremony and enjoy our own private time?” 

“Sure thing,” the other alpha replied. Followed by a slight pause, and then, “but you’re going to shower first, right? You stink like Noct’s defective omega.” 

There was a quiet snick of the door closing, and Noct took a deep breath. Time to get it over and done with, he guessed. “He doesn’t smell _that bad_ ,” he muttered at Gladio, and headed towards his bedroom. 

“You need to get your nose checked,” Gladio muttered, waving him away. 

Noctis opened the door to his bedroom and stepped inside before closing it behind himself. It was quiet inside, soundproofed as well as scent-proofed. It smelled mainly like him, deeply ingrained in the room. But there was a new smell in the room. 

Half-lying, half-sitting on the beg, up against the pillows, was Prompto. He was dressed in Noct’s favourite silky bathrobe – black with gold patterns embroidered into it. The Lucian colours. He smelled of all the different oils and scents and things he’d also had to bathe in. But underneath that, was his own scent. The one everyone complained about for some reason. 

“Hey,” Noct greeted awkwardly. He felt exposed – naked except for a scrap of fabric around his hips and painted stripes along his shoulders and torso. 

“Hey,” Prompto replied, shifting restlessly. “So… uh.” He looked away. “Hi.” 

“Hi. Again.” Noct take a deep breath and came to sit on the side of the bed next to him. “You met Ignis then. Did he make you feel welcome?” 

“He was…” A pink blush spread underneath the freckles on his cheeks. “Helpful.” He fiddled with the sash of the robe, “so…”

“So?” Noctis asked, turning face him properly. 

“Neither of us can bond,” he commented awkwardly. “We can mate but…” He eyed him uncertainly from under his lashes. They were fine, and a pale gold, almost non-existent from any further away. “I guess I want to know…exactly what you want for me. Yeah.” 

“I didn’t…really think about it,” Noctis replied, taking one hand and running it through his hair. The paint felt sticky against his skin, and the room felt too warm. “I just,” he paused, tried to think about it. “I was getting pressure to find an omega, and I couldn’t stand the thought of you trapped there in that place any more. I thought…” 

Prompto just smiled and nodded. “No, it’s okay. I get it. Beneficial arrangement and all that.” He fiddled again with the tie of his robe. “But I guess, I mean… more specifically. What you want from me…physically.” 

Noct felt his cheeks heat at that. He took a deep breath and shifted so he was lying back against the pillows beside him. Both of them looking up at the canopied ceiling of the poster bed. “I find you very attractive,” he said, trying to channel Ignis’s calm composure. “And I’ve thought about it a lot, since we met. But if you’re not interested, then—”

“I’m definitely interested!” Prompto blurted, interrupting him. He coloured, clearly embarrassed at his outburst. “I just… I don’t know what you see in me. Especially not with Ignis around.” 

Noct cringed, turning his head to the side to look at him. “You probably shouldn’t bring up me and Ignis being together around Gladio. It won’t… turn out well.” 

Prompto gave a weird contortion of his facial features – an expression Noct didn’t know him well enough to understand. “Right. Ignis said something similar.” He turned on his side to face Noct, half his face disappearing into the plush pillows. “It’s the important thing that you, like… make me smell like you, right?” 

“And vice versa,” he answered, turning onto his side as well. “It’s _intermingled scents_ I think, technically.” 

“Well. Hopefully you don’t end up stinking like me,” the blond muttered bitterly. 

“You don’t smell that bad,” he answered, rolling his eyes. He leaned in, burying his face in the crook of the omega’s neck. _His_ omega’s neck. Yeah. His omega. Sounded nice. 

He inhaled deeply – his sense was worse than even a beta’s, but from here he could pick apart the different notes. “You smell like… gunpowder.” Another delicate sniff. “And… mm, that’s a weird one. Like the old fishing spot under the river.” He noticed Prompto was squirming about and pulled back slightly. “Sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable?” 

“No!” he answered quickly, grabbing his shoulder with one hand. “I just… I’m not really used to contact with…well, anyone, let alone an alpha like you. And whatever was in all those oils and lotions made my skin all tingly. It…” His hand clenched again. “It felt good.” 

Noct gave a small, pleased smile. “Good.” Wrapping one hand around Prompto’s waist, he drew him closer so their bodies were pressed skin-to-skin. “Let’s start with that.” 

Prompto responded beautifully under his hands and lips. He made the sweetest noises, moving greedily to his every touch. He fucked greedily into his omega’s body, and Prompto clutched and pulled him tighter and closer. As they peaked, Noct clenched his teeth down on his neck, teeth piercing the skin to compress the scent glands underneath. 

In the aftermath, Noctis spooned up behind his omega, ebbing closer and closer to sleep. But just as he was on that edge, Prompto wriggled out of his grip. He made a soft noise of confusion, cracking one eye open to watch him. 

His omega was getting gingerly to his feet. His sun-starved pale skin was marked up, with bite marks and smudged paint and come. He gave a low rumble of pleasure, pleased at the visual proof of his claim on the omega. Prompto flushed and glanced back at him. “I thought you were asleep.” 

“I almost was.” He propped himself up on one elbow. “Where are you going?” 

“The ceremony is over, isn’t it?” He asked, grabbing the silky robe from the floor and tugged it on as best as he could. One of the sleeves was ripped almost entirely from the shoulder, hanging on by only a few threads. “I’ll go wash off and—”

He sat up properly, outrage twisting in his chest at the suggestion. “ _Wash off_?” He growled. He stood up, grabbing his shoulders and holding him close. “No!” He said, hating how panicked his voice sounded. “You’ll wash my scent off.” Somehow that sounded like the the worst idea ever. 

Prompto blinked across at him. “…is this an alpha thing? Did you make Lady Lunafreya stay covered in your jizz?” 

“Luna?” He frowned as he thought about it. “Maybe it’s a mating ceremony thing?” He guessed. “And we can clean that off. Let’s go bathe together. That sounds better.” 

He kept one arm securely around Prompto’s shoulders as they left the bedroom. As they opened the door, he heard Gladiolus gag from the living room. “Damnit, Noct! I’m trying to eat.” 

He _felt_ his omega flinch under his arms. He nudged him towards the bathroom with a reassuring smile. “I’m going to get food. Run the bath, I’ll join you in a moment.” 

Prompto nodded, nuzzled into his neck briefly, and then shut himself up in the bathroom. Noct pursed his lips and headed out to the main room. The other members of his pack were in the kitchen. 

Gladio was sitting at the kitchen counter, eating from a bowl – Ignis’s portion was beside him, half-eaten, but the other omega was up and portioning out one larger bowl for them to share. 

“I take it the ceremony went well, Noct?” Ignis asked, fishing out two spoons from the cutlery drawer. 

He smiled slightly. “Yeah.” 

Gladio was obvious as he grabbed a cloth napkin and covered his mouth and nose. “Good for you. Hopefully he’ll stop stinking out the den from now on.” 

Noct launched forward, grabbing the sensitive hair at nape of the alpha’s neck and tugging. He let out a low growl. “If you _ever_ make **my** omega feel upset again, I’ll—”

“I give!” Gladio said hurriedly, releasing a burst of submission into his scent. 

“Good.” Noctis let him go and took up the bowl. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a naked omega in my bathroom washing away my _scent_.” Giving Gladiolus a final, stern look, he took the food away.


	8. Settling In

Prompto woke up, listening to the quiet, content sounds of Noctis sleeping behind him. He slipped from his grip, waiting to see if his alpha would wake up. He didn’t, merely curling up into Prom’s abandoned warm spot and sighing happily. Astrals, he was so good-looking. He shifted around in the drawers until he found a pair of underpants and an old t-shirt and threw them on. 

He slipped out of the bedroom, listening carefully. He couldn’t hear anything, so it meant that the other members of Noct’s pack weren’t out in the shared rooms. Given the time of morning – before the sun did more than peek over the horizon – they were probably asleep in their equally scent- and sound-proofed room. 

He headed to the kitchen, opening the cupboards to look around. He wasn’t the _best_ cook in their classes, but he wasn’t _bad_. He grabbed enough ingredients to cobble together something easy – something more than just _cereal_ for his alpha. 

He was just taking it off the griddle when he heard the door to one of the bedrooms opening. The smell of a competing omega struck him first, before he could tell his brain that it was just Ignis. Not that it did _much_ to soothe that acidic knot of jealousy low in the pit of his stomach. 

“Morning,” he greeted, deciding to be the first to extend the niceties. 

He got a low snarl in response. “What are you doing?” Ignis demanded. 

“Cooking breakfast for me and Noct…”

He was cut off by the omega stepping forward aggressively. “And you thought you would just help yourself to someone else’s kitchen? Without seeking permission?” 

He shifted nervously, bowing his head and arching his neck – just a little – to show his submission. “It’s just some eggs and bread…”

“Yes,” the other omega answered sarcastically, “what a balanced and healthy breakfast for the prince.” He reached to remove the cooking equipment from him.. “Cooking is _my_ responsibility. I’ve carefully crafted the menus in order to sufficiently attend to the prince’s dietary needs, Don’t _presume_ to know you know better about the Prince’s needs than I.” 

Prompto recoiled slightly. Why was he being so mean? “S-sorry,” he muttered. 

Ignis took a deep breath, visibly reining in his temper. “I apologize. But I would prefer to take care of all the cooking needs for the pack. Please stay out of the kitchen.” And then he took the food and tipped them into the bin. 

“Okay,” he said weakly. He didn’t have to throw it out. “I’m going to go shower, then.” 

Ignis nodded at him dismissively and begun to scrub the kitchen clean. Prompto gave the bin a brief look and headed into the bathroom. 

It was the start of an uncomfortable trend. When Prompto tried to rinse the dishes and stack the dishwasher, Ignis politely informed him that he was stacking it incorrectly and suggested he take over the task from now on. When he tried to take Noct’s clothes to the laudnry, he was intercepted by Ignis. _The machine can be tricky and some of these items need to be dry cleaned. Worry not, I’ll take care of this chore._ And then cleaning the apartment – Ignis suggested he take over since he didn’t want Prompto’s scent to disturb Gladio’s sensitive nose. 

After he was told he’d best not make the beds, as there was a very particular way of doing them to make sure it stayed neat, he gave up. He retreated to Noct’s bedroom and curled up inside the walk-in robe. Noctis was out with Gladiolus, doing princely things or something, or he’d curl up with him. 

Instead, he waited with the door open until he heard the elevator ascending in the hallway. He hurriedly straightened himself and waited by the front door. Ignis was already there, with a shoe-horn and a coat brush. Prompto stepped forward when Noct stepped in ahead of Gladiolus. But Ignis beat him to it, easing his shoes and coat off, sweeping his shirt free of dirt. 

“Thank you Specs,” the prince said fondly, giving him a smile. It made an acidic twist burn in his stomach, the same lingering jealoust. But then Noct stepped to him and nuzzled affectionately into his neck. “You showered,” he accused, though his tone was soft and forgiving. 

Beyong Noct, he could hear and smell the reunion kiss between the other mates, one that was quickly getting intense. He glanced uncomfortably over the prince’s shoulder and cringed. Was that what real mates were like? 

“Get a room,” Noct commanded. “I wanna play video games.” 

Prompto was grateful when they agreed. He settled in with his alpha on the couch, lying down with Noctis half-sprawled over him. He was content with this, getting into the game story. Eventually, Ignis emerged, half-naked, from the other bedroom. He tensed up. 

Noctis paused the game. “Prompto?” He followed his gaze. “Ah. Ignis. You couldn’t put a shirt?” 

“My apologies, Noct. I merely came out to suggest you order in food for dinner. Gladiolus and I will be busy tonight. He’s started rut early.” 

“Again?” Noct asked, scratching his fingers through Prompto’s scalp and causing delightful shivers to wash down his spine. “Your cycles are getting closer together. Is there gonna be another close call again?” 

“Close call?” Prompto asked Noct at a curious whisper. 

“It’s easier to bond if alpha and are omega are both on the height of their mating cycle,” Ignis explained. “We had a close call early on in our mating.” 

He nodded with interest and hid deeper under his alpha’s body. Noct nudged into his neck affectionately. “Prompto can cook, it’s fine.” 

Ignis’s face became blank, and Promtpo stiffened underneath him. 

“What?” Noctis asked, pulling back so he could glance between them. “What’s the problem?” 

“Uh. Ignis asked me to stay out of the kitchen,” he answered, avoiding his alpha’s eyes. “He’s…peculiar about his cooking space.” 

“And?” 

“And the laundry, and the cleaning. And… everything.” He mumbled, hoping his alpha couldn’t hear. “He’s got the den under control.” 

Noct sat up and glared at the other omega icily. “Ignis. Did you tell Prompto he couldn’t help around the house?” 

He flinched. “No, it’s just that he has a system in place and there’s no room for me.” 

“Ignis,” the alpha warned. 

“I’ll arrange for some home arts to be delivered after Gladio’s rut,” Ignis said, glancing restlessly back at the open bedroom door. The other alpha’s musky arousal was wafting out of their bedroom. “Purchase some vegetables and _eat them_ , Noct.” He headed into the kitchen to collect a box of supplies, and disappeared back into the bedroom. 

“Hey,” Noct said, turning Prompto’s face to look up at him. His expression was gentle, concerned. “Did Iggy make you feel bad?” He asked seriously. 

He shrugged, ducking his gaze again. “It’s fine. He’s been here longer, he has things better organized the way he likes it. He’s better than me in every way.” 

Noctis kissed his neck, licking over the bite marks. Heat began growing in his core, and he flushed. “He’s not better than you,” the alpha murmured. “Let’s get pizza and make ourselves comfortable in bed, hm?” 

“Ignis said to order vegetables,” he pointed out, sliding his fingers under the soft fabric of Noct’s shirt. 

“What Ignis doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” He stood up and offered a hand down to Prompto. “Come on then.” 

He hesitated, then took his hand. At the very least, he could do this for Noct. Be his lover.


	9. Heat

Noct was tired. It had been a long, hard day sitting in on his father’s court. Watching the different cases between couples where they needed their bonds severed. Every act made a sharp ache in his chest worsen, and all he wanted to do was go home and curl up with Prompto. 

“Where’s Prompto?” He asked Ignis as his advisor helped him out of the suit he’d worn to court. 

“I believe he’s napping,” Iggy replied, hanging up the formal suit jacket in the coat closet. “I haven’t seen him outside of your room for a few hours.” 

Noctis frowned. His omega had been acting more and more reserved over the past couple days. Rarely leaving the bedroom, making only half-hearted attempts to start the crafts Ignis had brought. Mostly he’d wanted to curl up underneath Noctis and nap. He’d seemed agitated when Noct had to leave this morning. 

He headed towards his bedroom. The bed was stripped clean – Specs must be behind in his chores – but Prompto wasn’t immediately visible. He opened the closet, just to check Prompto hadn’t fallen asleep in there again. The little enclosed room of his clothes was often scented with the soft smell of his sleeping omega, though he’d never actually caught him there. 

But it was empty there too. He hummed and looked around the apartment for him, frowning. He headed back to Ignis. “Hey, did you strip my bed?” He asked, glancing around the shared rooms in case he’d missed Prompto coming out of the bathroom or something. 

“No not today,” he answered, tasting the sauce he had simmering on the stovetop. “Why?” 

Noct frowned. “Maybe Prompto went to launder them.” Where was the laundry in this apartment block anyway? 

He frowned at that. “That’s not his chore.” He dusted his hands off on his apron. “I’ll go check.” 

But when Ignis returned back into the den, he frowned and shook his head. “Maybe he is waiting for them to dry?” 

Noct followed the other omega up to the rooftop. There was no linen on the line, but there was a mess of plants and gardening tools all over the previously clean rooftop courtyard. 

Ignis scowled and started picking up the various plant pots. “I would check the greenhouse, Noct.” 

He headed over, and as soon as he got close to the glass he could see the mess inside. Prompto had taken everything off Noct’s bed, as well as laundry, and surrounded himself in them. He was clearly asleep, hugging a pillow tightly to his chest. 

“Uh… Specs?” He asked, looking through the window. “Uh… what’s happening?” 

Ignis came to stand beside him, adjusting his glasses. “Oh.” He pursed his lips. “He’s nesting. He must be in pre-heat.” 

“Pre…heat?” Noct asked, confused. He looked at Ignis, bewildered. “What in Eos is that?” 

“Omegas undergo different hormonal fluxes before their heat, coming with different instincts and urges. Many have the compulsion to construct a nest of sorts – a comfortable area surrounded by familiar scents in which to see out their heats.” 

“Do you nest?” Noct asked curiously. 

“That’s a personal question,” he answered, lips pursing. “We’d best get him back into the apartment. This is hardly an appropriate place.” 

Noct nodded and eased open the door to the greenhouse. He crouched down and gently touched Prompto’s shoulder. “Hey. Wake up.” 

His omega stirred, burying his face in the pillow. “Go ‘way,” he murmured, sounding distressed.” 

“Prompto, it’s me,” he murmured. “Let’s get you inside.” 

“No!” he snapped, agitated, “It stinks like your _perfect_ omega _Iggy_ down there! I don’t want to _be there_.” 

Noct gave a confused glance back at Ignis. He ran his fingers gently through his omega’s hair. “I’ll be back in a little while, okay Prompto?” He only got a mumble in response, and he quietly closed the door of the greenhouse. “He’s not gonna be comfortable in the den,” he told Specs. “What should I do?” 

His advisor pushed up his glasses. “Well, I suppose that depends what you plan to do, Noct,” he answered carefully. “If Prompto is going to see himself through this heat alone, I can supply him with everything he’ll need. But, I believe he’ll expect you to help him through it. You _are_ his mate.” 

He shifted, glancing back at Prompto. Could he even _help_ Prompto through his heat? He couldn’t knot, and he wasn’t his bondmate. “What’s it like, if he’s alone?” He asked. 

“I can’t speak for him,” Ignis answered. “But I’ve always found my heats unbearable to deal with on my own, even with the best aids.” 

Noct bit his lip uncertainly. He glanced back at the greenhouse, to his omega attempting to hide under the blankets stolen from his bed. “He says he doesn’t want to be around your scent.” 

“Not unusual,” he commented. “Omegas are always sensitive to one another’s presence, but it’s worse during the height of the mating cycle.” 

“You were fine last week,” Noct pointed out. 

Ignis sniffed, lifting his nose in the air. “Because I’m an _adult_ and I am more than capable than handling my instincts.” He straightened the last of the plant pots. “The decision is yours. I’ll have to rearrange your schedule, but no one would be surprised by it.” 

“…right.” Gladio always took time off for the few days that Ignis was in heat for. “Should I?” 

“I can’t answer that for you,” Ignis answered calmly. “You ought to trust your instincts in the matter. You’re his mate, but he is a pre-bonded omega. Your instincts may want to keep away.” 

Noct bit on his lip for a moment. He didn’t _know_. “I should bring him supplies, either way. He’ll only get upset if you do.” 

Ignis gave him a disapproving look – as if he _should_ have made a decision either way. “Very well. Come along then.” 

They prepared a box, and Noct avoided letting Ignis touch the items as much as possible. Lots of water, and some dried food, towels, wet wipes. And then, much to Noct’s flush-faced embarrassment, several tubs of personal lubricant and a sex toy with an inflatable knot. 

“ _Really_?” He asked. 

“What else do you think he’s craving, Noctis?” Ignis asked, rolling his eyes impatiently. “He’s a bonded omega, that’s all his instincts want.” 

And that was what Noct couldn’t give him. He wasn’t a proper alpha, he was _broken_. He didn’t have ruts to share, or a knot to give his omega. He’d done what he could to rescue Prompto from the Izunia Facility, but he couldn’t give him a proper relationship. 

“When will his heat actually start?” He asked. 

“It depends when his pre-heat begun,” Ignis answered factually, pushing up his glasses. “But I’d guess within a few hours, definitely by morning.” 

Noct picked up the box of supplies. “Okay. I’ll… I’ll go take these to him.” He made his way nervously back up to the rooftop. He let himself into the greenhouse, setting the box down. He lay down next to his omega in the surprisingly comfortable mess of pillows and blankets. He stroked from his hair, down his neck, down the sweaty shirt along his spine, then the same path again until his omega was opening gorgeous, deep blue eyes. “Hey.” 

“Noctis,” he slurred tiredly, “what’re you doing here?” 

He nuzzled into his neck, into the bite marks that were the soft pink of newly scarred skin. “It’s your heat, isn’t it?” He asked. 

“Will be soon,” Prompto mumbled, nodding. “Why d’you ask?” He asked softly. 

“I’m your alpha,” he answered, “I know I can’t give you what you need, but I can help you through your heat. If you want.” 

“You don’t need to,” Prompto whined, tilting his neck as an invitation for more attention to his sensitive skin. “I’ve been dealing with them myself since they started. I’m used to it by now.” 

Noct hummed and pulled back to frown at him, disappointed. “You don’t want me?” 

“I always want you,” his omega corrected. “But three days is a long time to be locked up with me. You’ve got heaps of other things going on in your life. You don’t have to deal with this.” 

He sighed. “Well, we’ll see how you feel.” He kissed his neck and relaxed next to him. “Can I stay with you for a while? All I’ve wanted to do all day is come home and curl up with you.” 

“I’m probably gonna sleep,” Prompto pointed out, an arm wrapping around his waist and drawing him closer to the over-warm body. “But I want you to stay with me.” 

Noct stayed happily beside him, in a nest that smelled like _them_. He had his phone on silent and played games while he waited. Prompto woke a few times, he helped his omega drink water and take some food, before letting him settle back to sleep again. 

When the night was dark – some stars scattered across the light-choked sky – his omega’s scent changed. Became sweeter, more enticing, laced with the smells of ripeness and arousal. He writhed impatiently as it got to him, until Prompto woke up with a desperate cry of need. 

“Prompto,” he said huskily, his skin burning with desire. “Please tell me you want me to stay.” 

His omega nodded rapidly, clutching at him. He shifted closer and then recoiled, making an angry little snarl. His hands clawed at his clothes. “Get did of these!” He demanded. “They smell like your _perfect_ omega!” His tone was bitter and mocking. 

Noct obliged, unbuttoning the formal shirt. “What are you talking about?” He asked, kissing in his neck. “ **You’re** my omega, Prompto.” 

“I mean stupid…perfect…Ignis!” He snarled, ripping at the shirt. “ _He’s_ your omega, even if you’re not fucking him. He feeds you and clothes you and takes care of your den. You only want me for _sex_.” 

“Prompto,” Noct said, catching his hands to hold them still and try and meet his eyes. “Hold on, Prompto, that’s not right. Listen…” 

“I don’t wanna listen!” the omega protested, wriggling his body and shifting his legs so their hard dicks were pressed together. “I want you to fuck me, Noctis. I _need_ it. I’m on fire and you’re the only one who can help.” 

“I…” He hesitated, but started removing their clothes again. “I can’t knot you, Prompto. I can’t give you what you need.” 

“Fuck that,” Prompto muttered. “I’ve only ever had my fingers to help. If you don’t stick your dick in me soon I’m gonna explode.” 

“Okay…” He kissed his neck and reached for the box of supplies. “I’ll get the lube…” 

“Thank fuck.” Prompto turned over, propping his hips up into the easiest position. “Gods, I love you.”


	10. Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. This chapter was not happening all day and then they drop THIS huge sack of angst on me. Come on guys, please play nice?

Ignis pressed into his alpha, inhaling the fading scent of his rut with a content rumble. They’d gotten through this rut together – _he’d_ helped his alpha. In less than a week it would be time for his heat – they were syncing up again. The thought roused the inkling in the back of his mind he’d been struggling to get rid of. 

“Gladio,” he murmured. “Are you awake?” 

“No,” the alpha growled, keeping his eyes determinedly shut. Ignis kept his tongue, patient, and it wasn’t long until he groaned and opened his eyes. “Fine. I’m awake. What?” 

He looked at him seriously from the pillow they were currently sharing. “I’ve been thinking.” 

“Never a good start.” 

“Hush. I’ve been thinking,” he started again, “Prompto has been taking on some small roles around the den.” Mostly because following their first heat together, Noct had told Ignis in no uncertain terms to back off and let his omega take care of – at the very least – the prince’s private space. Ignis had hovered over Prompto’s shoulder for an entire week, criticizing and reinstructing him how to complete the necessary tasks, but had ever since been resigned to the prince’s omega taking over the role. 

“Don’t remind me,” Gladio grumbled. “At least he doesn’t stink so much now that he’s getting regular dickings.” 

“Vulgarity, Gladio,” he scolded, waiting for the alpha’s attention to return to him. It was true, though. Since the heat, Prompto’s scent had become less unbearable. It was still unpleasant – though he suspected he would always think that of any omega intruding on his den – but nowhere near as rotten. 

Gladio kissed him tiredly and prompted: “so he’s doing more chores?” 

“Yes,” Ignis continued. “The den may not be a total disaster after my heat this month,” he commented – as close to a compliment as he was willing to give. “With Prompto taking on some of my responsibilities, it occurred to me that…” He paused, not quite certain about how he ought to phrase the matter. 

“Come on, Iggy. I’m exhausted. Just tell me so I can go back to sleep.” 

He took a deep breath. “Perhaps it is the optimum time for us to begin a family,” he announced. “While we’re both in our prime, and before we ascend to our formal positions in the court. If we wait much longer, the timing may be too convenient with other responsibilities outside the den.” 

Gladio sat up on one elbow, staring down at him. “Hold up,” he interrupted. “Are you…talking about having a baby?” 

Ignis frowned at the tone. “Yes, Gladio. That’s the nature of this discussion.” 

“Fuck, Iggy! You can’t just spring this on a guy. I **just** got out of rut!” Gladio said, swinging his feet out of the bed to stand up. 

“Well I could hardly ask you _during_ ,” he pointed out. “Your instincts would have made you go for it and you may have had regrets.” 

“Damn right I would’ve!” Gladio folded his arms, standing naked and unashamed as he glared down at his omega. “Ignis, I thought we decided at the beginning we weren’t going to have children!” 

A sick feeling twisted in his stomach. “I only meant…at the current time it was spoken. I was eighteen, Gladio, and scared of what the omega reforms were going to do. I’ve always meant to…” He trailed off, looking at the growing horror on his mate’s face. “Do you…not want children?” 

“Fuck, Iggy. No, I don’t! What are we supposed to do with _kids_?” He scowled, beginning to pace. “What, are we supposed to raise them in the prince’s den? And Astrals forbid they turn out to be an omega! They’d belong to the Omega Council!” 

Ignis closed his eyes, letting his alpha’s words wash over him. Allowed them to crush the small bubble of hope that had been building inside him over the past couple weeks. “A simple ‘ _no_ ’ would have sufficed, Gladiolus.” 

Feeling lost, unsteady like someone had pulled a rug out from underneath his feet as he walked, he placed his spectacles upon his face and rose to his feet. He had thought they both had the same goals for the future. Certainly, they hadn’t talked about it since before they mated and Ignis instructed him not to knot so they wouldn’t bond and risk pregnancy. But prior to this moment he hadn’t realized that Gladio had taken it to mean he wouldn’t want to have their own family at all. 

“I must attend to my duties,” he answered, in a calm steady voice he almost envied. If only he could feel as he sounded. “Try to get some sleep.” 

The next few days were exhausting. Undertaking his usual tasks, and micromanaging Prompto through the ones he had been commanded to relinquish, tending to his alpha’s need for contact, and opening up a conversation with his predecessor about shadowing his activities to learn what he would be expecting in the future when he undertook the position. Somehow he wasn’t surprised to find the day of his heat – carefully marked in his calendar – that he didn’t feel the slightest rise in desire. 

At first, Gladio’s glances were concerned – and then they became suspicious. “Do you need to book an appointment with the midwives?” He demanded, as the third day came and went without a hint of a change. 

“Do you really think-?” He begun, furious. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. “No, Gladiolus. I haven’t somehow defied omega biology and become pregnant without being bonded. I am just as empty as you intend me to remain.” 

The alpha recoiled slightly at that. “Ignis…” 

“But I do not feel particularly desirous of mating at the current juncture, so it seems my biology has done me a favour and shifted my heat.” Away from Gladio’s rut, an almost tangible proof of the distance that had sprung between them. 

“Iggy, I didn’t mean to upset you…” 

“If I am upset it is mine own punishment for making plans based on assumptions rather than proof. Nothing for you to concern yourself with.” 

“Of course I’m going to be concerned! I’m your alpha!” Gladio interrupted. 

He hummed. “At the present moment.” 

He could **see** the shock and fury striking Gladio. “What the fuck did you just say?” He demanded, his voice a deep, angry growl. 

“I simply mean,” he answered calmly, “that if our future plans are so misaligned, we are unsuited to one another. And at another juncture, we ought to discuss ending our arrangement. I can find an alpha who will give me what I want, and you can find one whose needs fit your wants.” 

Gladio growled, cornering him against the wall. He could easily escape, but he allowed the proximity for the moment. “How can you be so cold?” The alpha demanded. “You’re talking about _severing_ —” 

“No,” Ignis interrupted calmly. “You have to be bonded for there to be a severing. This is a mere parting.” 

Gladio’s jaw twitched, like he wanted to roar in his face. “I told you,” he said, his voice low and furious, “that if we were going to mate then I wouldn’t let you take any one else!” 

He sniffed. “Despite the laws,” he responded coldly, “you don’t actually own me like property. I have my own wants in life, Gladiolus. And if you can’t give me what I need, then I’m not going to waste away my prime years with you.” 

“All because I said I didn’t want kids?” The alpha demanded, his voice threatening to break into the roar he was clearly holding back. 

“You don’t know what it is _like_ , Gladio!” He snapped, tired of reining in his temper. “I am the _last_ of my family line. Every time I leave the house to shop for the den, I am forced to see omegas and their children everywhere I go. My heart _aches_ because I don’t have that, because the man who promised himself to me doesn’t _want_ that. To have thought for five years that we were merely waiting for a convenient time, only to realize you had never intended there to **be** a convenient time. I wanted to _raise children with you_ , Gladio, and you broke my trust! So Astrals’ damned forgive me for my body not wanting your cock inside me right now!” 

Gladio was silent, stunned, in the wake of his tirade. He gaped silently, opening his mouth once or twice to respond but closing it each time as silence won out. “I’m sorry,” he worked out, after a long silence where it was painfully obvious Noct and Prompto had heard his rant. “I’ll give you some space. But you’ll tell me when you’re ready to talk about this properly?” 

“Yes,” Ignis said, pulling his calm façade back into place. “I promise.” 

They watched each other, both hurt and angry, for long moments until Gladio grabbed his jacket and headed out of the front door. 


	11. Uncompromising

Prompto carried a woven basket full of laundry on his hip, walking out onto the rooftop patio. He blinked in surprise when he saw Gladio sitting on a camping chair, looking out at the city. He watched him for a moment, and then went ahead with hanging up the sheets. 

Since they’d overheard the other couple arguing last weekend, Ignis had been even more fussy than usual. If Prompto hesitated any time at all hanging out the sheets, he’d demand he iron them _by hand_. He knew _why_ Ignis was so damn grumpy these days, but he still hated being the brunt of that anger. 

He hid it as much as he could from Noct – his alpha was always prepared to defend him, but he didn’t want to get Ignis yelled at when he was clearly in a fragile mental state. He couldn’t help it, really. He understood; and his life at the facility had been spent mostly protecting and cosseting other omegas. Even with how unwelcoming Ignis had been… he couldn’t help but feel for him. 

He’d spent his whole life knowing he’d never have an alpha, he couldn’t even _imagine_ planning a life with someone and then learning he didn’t want the same. He didn’t think it’d ever be a question between him and Noctis whether it would happen. Noctis couldn’t knot, so he most likely wasn’t fertile; and Prompto’s reproductive system didn’t work properly either, so he doubted _he_ was fertile either. No doubt at some point Noct would be pressured to name an heir or something. 

Damn, the working solution had probably been to nominate Ignis and Gladiolus’s kid. Had _nobody_ discussed this with Gladiolus? 

As he pegged up the last pillow case, he glanced at the alpha in question. Gladiolus Amicitia was the quintessential alpha – tall and broad and muscular, strong and protective and intimidating. But at that moment he didn’t look larger than life. He looked small, broken – folded in on himself. 

Prompto had never dared once in his life to pity an alpha. But he did now. 

He crossed over to sit on the other camping chair, one downwind from the alpha so he didn’t disgust him right off the bat. He didn’t say anything just yet, just waited for Gladiolus to speak first. 

“Did you want something?” He growled impatiently. 

“No,” he answered simply. “Do you want me to go?” He would, if the alpha said so. But he had the feeling he _wanted_ someone to talk to, even if alphas were pressured never to acknowledge their feelings. 

“…no,” Gladiolus answered eventually. 

Silently the two of them watched the peak over the high wall of the city. When it was lighting up the highest towers of the city, the alpha heaved a great sigh. “You know when he leaves me, his next step will be to displace you and take Noct as his alpha.” 

“Yeah, I figured,” he said, his voice coming out surprisingly calm and accepting. He realized it _was_ exactly what he expected to happen very soon. There was a strained silence between the two of them. “Not that it’ll really help his current problem.” 

“I’m sure he has a contingency plan for that,” Gladiolus grumbled. “IVF or something, if he can find a discrete doctor to be trusted.” 

Prompto leaned on his hand, eyes automatically seeking the best light in the city, mentally capturing a photograph to try and memorize. “And then it’s back to the Izunia Facility for me, I guess.” He tried not to linger on it. Astrals, how was he supposed to go back to that? Being with Noctis, having him as his alpha, was the only happiness he’d known in his life. 

“Nah,” Gladiolus answered, the chair groaning as he leaned back into it. “Iggy said from the beginning that he’d find another alpha to bully into taking you.” 

“Ifrit’s nutsack,” Prompto said, as it occurred to him: “he’s going to pick you, isn’t he?” 

The alpha didn’t exactly answer, but he made a strangled, protesting noise that meant he had seen the truth in his statement. 

“I’ll talk to Noct, make him talk Ignis out of it,” Prompto said, shifting restless. “He loves you, he doesn’t want to stick with you with an omega who stinks so much it makes you gag.” 

He could feel the alpha’s eyes on him intently, but he didn’t look away from the cityscape he was trying to memorize. 

“You know,” Gladiolus said quietly, “you really don’t smell that bad these days. Probably mating with Noct.” 

He shrugged. “So, you gotta hold your breath long enough to stick your dick in me? Doesn’t seem fair on you.” 

Gladiolus huffed. “No offense. But I don’t _want_ you.” 

“Why would I be offended by that?” He asked, tilting his head in confusion. “You’re nuts for _Ignis_. How could I ever compare to that?” He shook his head. “Ignis is literally the perfect omega. You’re an idiot for letting him go, you know.” 

“You think I don’t know that?” He growled. “I’m not _letting him go_. He’s leaving me.” 

Prompto shrugged. “I dunno what to tell you, Gladiolus,” he replied. “You know what he wants, and you won’t give it to him. You either give in or give up, I don’t think there’s a compromise available here.” 

The alpha’s glare hardened, he could feel it almost like a physical weight on his back. “Why am _I_ the one that has to give in? I have my own reasons for not wanting—” 

Prompto shrugged. “ ‘Cause he’s called it make or break,” he replied easily. “A family is important to him. More important than you. Can you say the same?” 

He was silent for a long time, before the intensity of his gaze dropped. “He didn’t even want to consider my concerns. He just immediately talked about our parting. Is it so bad, not wanting to risk putting a child through the Astrals-damned laws in place right now?” 

“I mean. One: what are the chances you two will even _have_ an omega. Sure, you’ve got Iris, but female-omega genes aren’t carried by alpha males. It’s like a one-in-ten chance even if both sets of grandparents are alpha-male omega pairs. There’s a reason they’re dying out you know – some fuckers decided to sterilize the gene pool last century.” 

There was a long, stilted pause. It didn’t feel accusing, so Prompto glanced over to see the alpha staring at him. “Did you just say Iris?” 

“Yeah. She’s your sister, right?” He gave a smile. “She’s pretty. And she seems sweet. Would you tell _her_ she couldn’t have kids?” 

The alpha folded his arms, frowning as he thought about it. Then, he swiftly changed the subject. “What was two?” 

“Hm?” 

“You said ‘one’. What was two?” 

“Oh. Right.” He looked away. “If you don’t want your kids to grow up in a world with dumb omega laws – fucking _change_ them. You’re an important, high-ranking alpha from an ancient family line. Every day you don’t do anything to stop it, you’re contributing to the problem.” 

“I think you’re over-estimating my influence here,” Gladiolus growled impatiently. 

Prompto just shrugged. “What do I know? I’m just an _Empty_. I was made to be bred by the highest bidder. I don’t know shit about politics, but what’s the point of having a king if he can’t even stop something that’s ruining the lives of a quarter of his own citizens?” 

He got to his feet, crossing silently to the edge of the building. He propped on foot up on the raised edge, leaning his arms on his bent knee. The city below was slowly turning from its shadowed morning, sunlight spreading across the buildings like a physical blanket being pulled over the streets. And there, a few districts away, the large walled complex of the Izunia Facility. 

“You wanna know the worst part?” He asked, not even knowing if the alpha would bother to listen. “The new omegas that are coming in, that were too young to remember… to _know_ that things used to be different. That we didn’t used to be _items_ to be bought and sold at alphas’ whims. They don’t know things could even be different, that we might have a _choice_ in who we fuck, mate, or bond. That they might _never_ choose to belong to an alpha.” He gave a bitter little laugh. “They _believe_ it. That being imprisoned and given to the first alpha who wants them is best for everyone. They actually think it’s for their own good!” 

He picked up a loose chunk of brick, and tossed it as hard as he could towards the prison, as if that would help. He gave another soft, bitter laugh and dropped his foot back down. “But sure. You’ve got no power here.” 

He put his foot down and turned back to look at Gladiolus. He was watching Prompto with a very carefully blank expression. “Anyway. Sorry for monologuing.” He shook his head and went to collect the washing basket. “I guess… just think about it. You don’t even have to help raise the kid if you want to. Ignis is more than capable of taking care of him. And if I’m still around, I’ll help.” He gave a soft smile. “They’d be gorgeous, you know? A small blend of you and Ignis. Something that’s made of the two of you.” 

Gladiolus turned away and ignored him, looking back out at the city. Prompto shrugged it off and headed back downstairs. 

Gladiolus and Ignis would work things out, or they wouldn’t. If they did, things could stay in the weak balance they were slowly forming in the den. If they didn’t… well, he could only guess what would happen. Ignis would become Noctis’s omega, as he found out it had always been intended. Prompto would be passed off onto whatever alpha Ignis had enough influence over. 

He tried to face that fact calmly, but it twisted a feeling in his stomach. He wanted to seek out Noct immediately, curl up with him – and he only resisted that urge long enough to put the washing basket back in its Ignis-approved location. 

Noct was watching some sort of fishing show on the television, and he barely glanced down as Prompto curled up on his lap. It wasn’t until the ad-break that he looked down at him. “You okay? You were gone for a while.” 

He sighed and nuzzled into his alpha’s lap. “Would you want kids?” He asked, barely above a mumble. “I know we _can’t_ , but if things were different…”

Noctis shrugged. “I don’t really know,” he replied. “I guess it’s always been something I knew I’d have to have – at least one. Carry on the line of succession. I’m… sad I can’t have them. I guess I wanted to be the cool uncle to Gladio and Speccy’s kids.” He paused, running his fingers down Prompto’s back. “What about you?” 

He shrugged. “I like kids. Not as much as baby chocobos, but…” He shifted. “Ignis and Gladiolus would have beautiful kids.” He carefully reached up and touched Noct’s face gently. “You and Ignis would have cuties too.” 

His alpha stared down at him, confused and agitated. “Me and _Ignis_?”

He shrugged, tucking up on his side so he didn’t have to look Noct as he spoke. “I mean, if he and Gladiolus split up… It makes sense. You and him.” 

Noct’s voice was almost scarily calm as he asked: “and what happens to you in this imaginary scenario you’ve cooked up?” 

He shrugged. “No idea. Guess Ignis trades me off to whoever will take me. That was his plan, right?” 

He found himself suddenly pinned on the other side of the couch, pushed up against the arm rest, Noct looming over him with a snarling expression. “No,” he growled, eyes flashing dangerously. “You’re _mine_ , Prompto. The only person who can make that change is _you_ – and even then I’m not letting you go without a fight.” 

Prompto laid a hand on his side, giving a soothing, gentle stroke down his flank. “Shhh,” he hushed softly, trying to channel reassurance into his scent. “I want to stay with you,” he murmured. “I wish I _could_ be yours, fully. If there wasn’t this stupid pre-bond…” He shook his head free of his bitterness, kissing Noct’s neck. “But I know I’m not ideal. I wasn’t raised for this, like Ignis was. If you really wanted him, instead of me…”

“What?” Noctis rumbled impatiently. 

“Well, I’d let it happen, I guess,” he said, stroking his hand down Noct’s side again. “Your happiness matters me more than anything else in the world.” 

Noct nosed at his neck until he tilted it, exposing the scent glands and the pink scars. He nipped insistently over the marks – his _claim_. “Then don’t bring up leaving me again,” he warned. “Or I’ll keep you in bed until you’re _convinced_ all I want is you.” 

It was unbelievable really. Why would Noct want _him_? Over anyone else? But if Noct was mixed up with hormones, who was he to argue? 

He dug his own teeth into the less prominent scent glands in his neck. Not enough to break the skin, but pressure he hoped felt as good to Noct as the same did to him. 

Noct gave a low, startled moan. He panted for a few moments, and then scrambled up from the couch, away from Prompto. “Uh… I need to… talk to Gladio. Be back soon, okay?” 

Prompto watched him flee the room, wondering exactly what he’d done wrong. He slumped back down into the couch, tugging his clothes back into order. “Smart one, Prompto Argentum,” he scolded himself. He sat up and grabbed the remote, changing it over to the video game console and playing while he waited for Noctis to come back.


	12. Surprise

“Well, I don’t know what else to tell you, Noct,” Gladio said, shrugging. “You can chat with a doctor if you like,” he continued, “but it seems like it to me. In all my experience of having one.” 

Noctis was still aflame with panic and uncertainty. “But I _don’t_.” 

“You haven’t before,” the other alpha replied, giving one arm a lazy shrug. “Doesn’t necessarily mean that you would never ever.” 

It didn’t help him calm down. He shifted restlessly, resisted the panicked idea that he should just strip and _show_ Gladio. Get his not-quite-expert opinion. But he doubted the other alpha would be okay with that. 

“But what do I _do_?” He asked, strained. 

Gladio shrugged again, avoiding his eyes. “That’s probably a discussion you should have between you and your omega.” 

Another burst of panic. “Astrals, do you think Prompto _wants_ …” 

“Noct. _I don’t know,_ ” he stressed impatiently. “If I’ve learned anything from my own mess, it’s that you should be having these kind of discussions _with_ your omega. Early, before assumptions get in and neither of you are ever on the same page again.” 

His own panic calmed with a low balm of sympathy. “Speccy’s still not speaking to you, then?" 

“He got so upset that his body literally cancelled his heat. So, no. He’s not speaking to me.” 

“Have you tried apologizing?” Noct asked uncertainly. Everything felt unbalanced with his lifelong friends at odds with one another. He’d always envied their relationship – they seemed perfectly matched. His whole world was tipping on his axis already, before this _new_ development. 

“I’ve tried everything up to groveling naked on my hands and knees, Noct,” he replied with an unhappy growl in his voice. “No. He’s not planning on forgiving me any time soon.” He glared out at the city skyline. “Hey, maybe that’s why you’re finally –”

“How would _that_ make sense?” Noct interrupted, not wanting to hear Gladio say it out loud. 

“It’s just a bit coincidental, don’t you think? Me and him are at odds and suddenly you’re…” He trailed off significantly, raising his eyebrows at Noct’s embarrassed look. “I don’t know if competing alphas is a thing. Or, hey, maybe you pre-bonded to Ignis when you were kids and his finally being available–”

“This is definitely not about Ignis,” he answered, flushing in embarrassment and agitation. No, this was definitely Prompto’s fault. 

The moment was burned into his mind, forever scarred into him memory through shame and embarrassment. Their conversation about procreation, the threat about Iggy and Gladio, his declared intentions. And then, he remembered with mortified intensity: Prompto’s teeth digging into his neck, the jolt of pure arousal – and the strange, sensitive, swollen feeling growing at the base of his dick. 

Ifrit’s nutsack. He’d almost _knotted_. He’d never had one before, the feeling was terrifying – he’d fled Prompto’s side instantly and demanded Gladio’s advice on the matter. The other alpha hadn’t really done much more than shrug and say ‘ _yeah probably_ ’ but still. Noct was freaking out. 

What did this mean? For him, yeah. But for _them_? Cor, uncomfortable and clearly unwilling, had given him and Ignis and Gladio the _Talk_ when they were all presented. The lessons were similarly burned in his memory with sheer embarrassment. 

But right now he was reminded: knots were for bonding, and conceiving. Unlike betas, who had a much more simplistic reproductive style, omegas were different. They were generally infertile, but the physical pressure of knotting opened up their cervices to enable conception. Which wasn’t to say only alphas could impregnate omegas, but betas and other – topping – omegas had to cheat by faking the sensation. There had been diagrams. And cartoonish videos. It was so _mortifying_.

The whole bonding thing was less clear. Bonding typically occurred when an alpha knotted an omega for the first time – but pre-bonds existed, as well as bonds between other non-alpha/omega couplings. Nobody was _entirely_ sure why or how it occurred, but the most surefire way for an alpha and omega to bond was to knot. 

He knew, with a sort of embarrassed common sense, that Gladio had obviously never knotted Ignis. After he had a discussion with Prompto – and depending on its outcome – he may have to ask Gladio the exact mechanics on how that worked. 

But there was the other side of it too. Omegas didn’t become fertile until a bonding – unless there was surgical and chemical interference. He could bond with Prompto, and they could have children. 

His thoughts came to a screeching halt, and his stomach sunk – disappointment crushing his spirit. No. He _couldn’t_ bond to Prompto. Prompto was an Empty, was pre-bonded to the alpha of his DNA donor’s. Even if they both wanted to, it just wasn’t possible. 

“You doing okay there?” Gladio asked, raising his eyebrows slightly. “Your scent changed pretty sharp there.” 

“Just… bonding stuff,” Noct admitted quietly. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Gladio looked curious and concerned, but he didn’t press. Merely clapped Noct on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. “It’ll work out.” 

Before he could answer, there was a pointed clearing of a throat behind them. He turned and gave Ignis an almost guilty look. The omega looked _tired_ and worn down. He hoped the couple made up soon. And had their supposedly pretty children, so Prompto could spoil them to pieces. 

“What’s up, Specs?” He asked. 

“We just received a message from Drautos,” Ignis answered, his tone serious. The ‘official business’ tone, to be more specific. 

“About what?” He asked, tilting his head. Another burst of panic. “Is my father okay?" 

“King Regis is fine,” Ignis quickly soothed him. “Doing so well, in fact, that he has announced that it is time he welcomed his son’s new mate into the family.” 

“Oh, Astrals, no,” Noctis muttered, feeling the blood draining from his face. 

Ignis just gave him a sort of ‘ _that is correct_ ’ look. “We’re all bidden to attend a celebration ball. Where you will formally introduce Prompto to his majesty, King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII.” 

Noct groaned, loudly. “Astrals, Dad,” he whined, “why do you have to be so _embarrassing_?”

Ignis, the bastard, was enjoying his suffering. 

Damn it. How was he supposed to break the news to _Prompto_ about this unplanned ‘meeting the parents’ event?


	13. Ball

“Prompto,” Ignis scolded him impatiently. “Stop fiddling with your tie. Do you **want** to look dishevelled. 

“No.” He needed to make a good impression. He was meeting his alpha’s father – the Astral’s damned _King of Lucis_. He was going to have a panic attack. He wanted _Noct_.

The other omega batted his hands away from the black silk tie he was fiddling with. “Try not to be nervous,” Ignis suggested. “Your behaviour reflects not only on Noct, and our den, but the very future of the kingdom.” 

“Oh, great,” he replied, his voice cracking. “No pressure!” He squirmed restlessly. “I want Noct.” 

“You sound like a toddler,” Ignis scolded, straightening his tie impatiently. “This wing of the Citadel omega-only. You will see Noct at the banquet.” 

“You should start sleeping with Gladio again,” he muttered childishly. “You’re so damn _moody_.”

“ **That** is none of your business,” the other omega snapped, angrily. 

“It is when you take it out on me,” he argued, folding his arms. “Have you even _talked_ to hhim about it?” 

“There would be no use in speaking with Gladio on the matter. He made his stance on the matter quite clear enough in the first discussion. There is simply nothing further that needs to be said.” 

Prompto rolled his eyes. “ _Now_ who’s sounding like a child? You realize this whole problem was because you two didn’t talk about what you both _want_ right? _Not talking_ about the issue is not going to help.” He batted Ignis’s hands away from his tie and collar. “You two are just sulking and it’s ruining the mood of the den. Besides,” he gave him a look. “How are you supposed to convince him over to your side otherwise?” 

Ignis scowled, but he didn’t reply. It was probably the only sign he’d get that Ignis had listened to him and was going to consider his point. 

Before they could argue any more, the other omega’s phone chimed. He checked the message. “Alright,” he announced. “It’s time for your introduction. Follow me.” 

The tight knot of anxiety in his guy only worsened as he got closer and closer to the throne room where the ball was taking place. “I’m going to be sick,” he gasped as they reached the huge, imposing doors. 

“Try not to vomit on the king,” Ignis advised, his one disapproving. 

“No promises,” he muttered. 

The doors opened with a loud groan. The sound of a small orchestra continued, but all conversation came to a slow hush. Shiva’s _tit_ , he was going to have a heart attack. He was going to die and shit himself in front of the whole court and then he’d be remembered as the omega that died and shat himself in front of the king. 

And then Noct was there. It was probably against protocol, but his alpha enfolded him protectively in his arms. He buried his face in Noct’s neck, slowly inhaling his scent for comfort. There was something subtly new about the smell, and as he sought out the change, he slowly calmed. 

There was something different about the musky alpha smell that underlaid his whole scent. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It smelled stronger, deeper. More inviting. 

“You look so good tonight, Prompto,” he murmured into his ear. “I don’t want anyone else to see you. I want to keep you all to myself.” He scraped his teeth along the omega’s scent glands. “But they’re going to know damn well that you’re _mine_.”

He flushed, but he was pleased by the words. Noct _wanted_ him, and that meant everything. Even in front of all these rich and noble people, he still wanted everyone to know that Prompto belonged to him. 

Through Noct’s desire and his scent, Prompto found himself calmed back to a bearable level of nervousness. The alpha pulled back and placed a hand on his back. “Come on. My father’s waiting to meet you.” 

And the nervousness ratcheted up again. He clung to Noct, not wanting to let him go. His alpha led him to the bottom of a huge set of marble stairs – and at the top of them, the king sat on a fancy, overly ornate throne. 

Noct gently pressed him forward. “I can’t go up with you. This one you have to do on your own. But I’ll be waiting.” 

He took a deep breath and started to make his way up the stairs. He could feel every eye in the room on him. And then, as he reached the first landing, he put his foot down wrong and stumbled, landing on his hands-and-knees on the marble. He felt his face flame with embarrassment. 

Ramuh’s ingrown toe nail. He just tripped. In front of the whole court. In front of Noct, and his _father_. He could hear some soft laughter from the gathered crowd. Maybe he could just roll back down the stairs and escape. 

But he took a deep breath and got back to his feet. He continued his way up the stairs until he was standing before the king. He knelt on one knee, bowing his head in greeting. “Your majesty.” 

“Prompto Argentum,” the king greeted, and reached out to rest a hand on his head. “Welcome. You may rise.” 

He stood up carefully, giving him a shy look. “Um… hi. I’m Prompto. Your son’s omega.” 

The king smiled at him fondly. “Welcome to the family, Prompto,” he greeted, his voice affectionate. “Why don’t you sit by me, we can watch the dancing.” 

He was a blessing from the Astrals. Prompto smiled at him and sat as one of the crownsguard brought a footstool for him to perch on. The guests moved around the hall, dancing in the sort of ballroom dancing Prompto had only ever seen in movies – and for the most elegant, accomplished omegas at the Facility. And then he recognised one of them – and then another and another. He felt _sick_.

Because the king wasn’t unaware what was happening and fooled by the council into thinking things were perfect at the facility. He _knew_. He saw the omegas _all the time_.

“I trust my son is making you feel at home?” The king begun. 

He turned to face him, his face twisting up in fury. “Don’t _talk_ to me,” he hissed. “How can you even _live_ with yourself?” 

The king looked surprised by his sudden change in demeanor. “I am afraid I don’t know to what you are referring.” 

He glared at the king, surprised by his own daring. “I’m talking about the Izunia Facility, about the omega laws that _you_ continue to support!” he hissed. “Are you _happy_ knowing a quarter of your population are displayed and sold like animals?” 

The confusion in the king’s face cleared, and had a brief moment of concern before becoming a politician’s blank expression. “The situation is much more complicated than you currently know,” he answered. “But I’d like to discuss the matter with you. In private,” he glanced towards the dance floor, where Prompto caught sight of a familiar red-haired figure was making his way through the ranks toward the stairs. “Away from certain company.” 

He felt sick as he watched Ardyn Izunia ascend the stairs, a weird sort of smile on his face. His heart sped in his chest, and he looked away – trying to spot Noct amongst the crowd. 

He swept his hat off and bowed, giving the King the same smile. “King Regis. Congratulations on your son’s mating. Prompto here was one of my facility’s oldest residents – we were all pleased to hear he’d finally found an alpha to take him on.” 

“Chancellor Izunia,” King Regis greeted, his voice perfectly composed. “I hope you enjoy the evening.” 

The chancellor smiled and bowed. “I was wondering if Prompto would do me the honour of a dance this evening?” 

“You’ll have to wait in line, Izunia,” a gruff voice announced behind them. Gladiolus finished ascending the stairs and offered Prompto a hand. “His highness sent me to fetch you for the next dance.” 

Prompto took his hand and let a smile cross his face. “Good. I missed him.” He bowed to King Regis and swept away from Izunia without another word. “Thank you,” he whispered to Gladiolus, once they were far enough down the stairs. 

The other alpha just grunted, and muscled the crowd aside and handed Prompto over to Noct who barely concealed his surprise. “I’ve brought your omega over for the next dance, as you requested.” 

“Thank you, Gladio,” Noct replied, taking Prompto’s hand. He raise his wrist and gently sniffed the lesser scent glands there. “Are you nervous, Prompto?” 

“It’s my first royal ball.” 

Noct hummed. “Well, this time I’ll lead.” 

He felt almost weightless as Noct took him around the ballroom. Each step effortless as the prince led him through his dance. He didn’t trip or falter once, letting his alpha guide the way. But they did eventually part – Noct handed him a glass of punch and then left him by the balcony doors as he went to speak to the king. 

He was ages and Prompto got bored, watching the dancers move gracefully in a twirling choreography – the light catching jewels and medals like stars. The strong alcohol in the punch filled him with a pleasant buzz. 

“You’re an Empty.” 

He jolted up. “Huh?” He twisted around and saw Izunia standing next to him, holding two glasses of punch. 

“Your drink, Prompto. You’re empty.” 

“Oh. Yeah.” He put down his empty cup. The red-haired beta offered forward one of the full glasses. Prompto hesitated, then took the other from his furthest hand. “Thanks.” 

There was a peculiar little smirk as Ardyn sipped the other and set it aside. “Things will be very difficult for you, getting used to court life, your mateship with the prince.” He looked serious. “I’m sure you will do _the right thing_ for everyone.” 

Prompto took a drink from the cup to swallow down his nervousness. Did it… taste slightly different? That must be his imagination. Ardyn wouldn’t _drug him_. Here, in front of the whole court. “I have my new pack to guide me,” he said defiantly. 

“Yes,” Ardyn said, amused. “I suppose you do.” He stepped closer. “I am a very powerful person, Prompto Argentum, and I know all about you. If I was feeling _generous_ I could be a lot of help. I have many _connections_ here as well as the empire. I could get you out of a certain _bind_.” 

“Y-you… what?” 

Ardyn just looked significantly at the barcode on his wrist and then stepped back, holding his arms out as he gave a deep bow. “I do hope you make the _right_ decision, Prompto Argentum. Enjoy your evening.” 

Prompto stared after him, his head feeling cloudy and confused. After a moment, Ignis appeared by his side. “What did the Chancellor want?” 

“Uh… I don’t really know,” he replied. “I _think_ he was bribing me? Or something?” He shook his head, then leaned against the wall as his head spun wildly. “Where’s Noct?” He asked. “I wanna go home.” 

“I’ll escort you back to your rooms…”


	14. Afterparty

“Prompto,” Noctis muttered to himself as he waited for the elevator to slowly ascend. “I have something important to tell you.” He shook his head and straightened his tie a little. “Prompto, something has happened, and it’s going to change some things between us – No, that makes it sound like I’m breaking up with him. Prompto, something has happened to me and it will – no, it _might_ change how things are between us. If you want them to.” He glanced at Gladio, “how is this sounding?” 

“Don’t bring _me_ into this,” Gladiolus grumbled. “You know I don’t talk around these things. If it were me I’d just say ‘ _hey Prompto, I’ve got a knot. Can I stick it in you or not? _?”__

____

“Gods, Iggy turned out with a real _prize_ , didn’t he?” Noct deadpanned, before he turned back and pressed the button for his floor at the citadel. “Come on. What’s taking so long?” 

____

“Relax, would you?” The other alpha growled impatiently. “Worst case scenario, he tells you he doesn’t want you to knot him, you take it to mean he has a certain goal for the future and then he ends up changing his mind and you ruin your relationship five years down the track.” 

____

“…” Noct glanced at him with a tired glare. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.” 

____

He sighed and ran a hand through the scruff of his stubble. “Sorry. I’m a bit mixed up in my own head here.” He sighed. “You’ll be fine. Not like you two can bond anyway, what have you got to worry about?” 

____

“There’s more to it than bonding,” Noct murmured. But he sighed – Gladio had a point. Everything would be fine. They were both calm and clear-headed and they could make a mature decision. 

____

But he knew something was wrong as soon as he opened the door to their rooms. A sweet, overpowering smell greeted his nose – and Gladio made a pained noise as it reached him too. They both hurried in and closed the door to seal of the scent. 

____

“Prompto’s in heat.” 

____

But at the exact same time, Gladio was saying: “Iggy’s in heat.” 

____

They stared at each other for a moment, then both parted to the separate bedrooms. As soon as Noct had closed the door to his suite, he had an armful of needy omega. “Prompto?” 

____

“Noct,” he whined needily. “I need you.” 

____

“Prompto, you’re in heat,” he said. “And so is Ignis…”

____

He snarled and slammed Noct against the door. “Don’t you **talk** about him! Don’t you even **think** about him! You’re mine!” 

____

“And you’re mine,” Noct replied, walking him back towards the bed. “I’m going to make you come, and then we’re going to have to talk.” 

____

One wasn’t enough – Prompto didn’t calm down until Noct had sucked and licked and fingered him into a state of near-exhaustion. He was half asleep, clinging to him tightly. 

____

“Prompto, we need to talk,” Noct murmured, stroking his hands through his omega’s hair, trying to keep him awake. 

____

He whined. Burrowing closer into Noct’s chest, he closed his eyes. “Just need to sleep,” he whimpered. “Get some rest, and then can you please fuck me? I want you.” 

____

“No, Prompto, you have to stay awake.” He pulled his head back to look at him carefully. “Prompto, you’re in heat.” 

____

“I _know_ ,” he huffed. “That’s why I need you to fuck me. So you can make me feel better.” 

____

“No, Prompto, I need you to think for a minute,” he said, frustrated in more than one way. “You aren’t _meant_ to be in heat yet. It’s only been a couple weeks. That’s way too soon.” 

____

He grumbled and buried his face in Noct’s neck, nuzzling at the scent glands. “…and Ignis either,” he said. “Maybe. He didn’t have his last one.” 

____

Noctis frowned. “Sleep,” he murmured to Prompto. “I’ll be back by the time you wake up. I have to check something.” 

____

“No!” Prompto snarled in protest, clinging to him with hooked fingers. “You’re _mine_ , and I’m not _letting you go_. Ever.” 

____

He sighed. “Okay. I’m here.” He ran his fingers down his back. “Rest. I’m right by your side. When you wake up, I have something to tell you you’re in no state to make a decision on, but you’ll find out any way.” He kissed his neck, licking soothingly over his swollen scent glands. “Rest.” 

____

Prompto only slept an hour or two, before his temperature spiked and his body grew needy once more. Noct coaxed another orgasm from him, before trying to get his attention. 

____

“Listen to me, Prompto,” he said seriously, letting a low growl enter his voice. It made his omega perk up and pay attention. “I wanted to tell you this when we were both clear-headed,” he mumbled, stalling for time. “I have a knot. Well, not _right_ now, but—”

____

He was cut off as Prompto roughly flipped them, pinning him underneath his sweat-slicked body. “Knot me,” he demanded in a low snarl. “I want it, Noct. Give me your knot.” He shifted, rocking his hips into his alpha’s. “Tie us together. I want to mate properly.” 

____

Noct could barely restrain himself from the thought. He turned them so Prompto was laid flat on the mattress, feeling the strange new swelling just at the thought. “I’ve never really knotted before,” he confessed. “I don’t know how long we’ll be tied together.” 

____

Prompto all but purred in pleasure, his dark blue eyes – almost violet in his lust – staring up at Noct in adoration. “I hope it lasts all night.” 

____

He leaned down to nip at the scarred bite mark. “That’s ridiculous,” he teased fondly. “But it does sound nice.” 

____

The heat wasn’t natural. It only lasted a day, burning hot and fast and unbearable. Everything both of them could do barely kept it under control. Then they made it back out to the main room. 

____

Gladio and Iggy were out there, pointedly not looking at each other – but their scents were combined and proved exactly what had happened overnight. Prompto raised his eyebrows at Noct, but didn’t say anything – he didn’t need to. He understood the thought behind the look. _Is this going to make it better or worse between them?_

____

“I’ve had a brief communication with some of the betas on the staff,” Ignis announced, as the two of them settled down to the rough breakfast he’d put together. “It seems every omega at the party has been _indisposed_ overnight. Foul play is most definitely suspected, though the crownsguard suspect it will be too much time after the fact to catch the culprit.” 

____

“Some bastard drugged all the omegas at the ball,” Gladio translated with an angry growl. “And they can’t do shit about it.” 

____

Noct felt Prompto’s hand clench tightly around his. He glanced at him, frowning slightly. “Prom?” 

____

“Ignis,” his omega began carefully. “Did you drink the punch?” 

____

The other omega frowned as he thought about it. “Well… Yes. Everyone in attendance was drinking the punch – alpha, beta and omega alike.” 

____

Prom shrugged. “I don’t know. I just remember… Chancellor Izunia brought me a glass of punch. And I thought it tasted funny.” 

____

Noct felt his face hunkering into a scowl, a growl building in his throat. “You accepted a drink from a stranger?” He demanded. 

____

“He’s not a stranger,” Prompto replied defensively. “He was one of our teachers at the Facility.” He pulled his hand from Noct’s, and the alpha felt a possessive knot in his chest – instinctively reaching out to grab it back but forcefully moving his hand back to his side before it made contact. “If someone spiked the punch… There’s gotta be something that causes omegas to go into heat, but leaves alphas unaffected, right?” 

____

Ignis frowned, glancing at Noctis. “There have been…rumours. Of certain drugs pertaining to that effect in Niflheim. Nothing confirmed.” He shifted restlessly. “Prompto, the king has been in contact. He wishes to have a private meeting with you this afternoon. Are you aware of what it is for?” 

____

Noct watched his omega shift nervously. “Uh. Probably about me…yelling at him about the omega laws.” 

____

The other couple stared at him in stunned horror. “You did what?” Ignis managed out after a moment or two of opening and closing his mouth silently. Gladio just… laughed silently and shook his head. 

____

“To be fair!” Prompto said loudly, holding up his hands to defend himself. “He obviously knows what’s going on in the Facility! Half the omegas at the ball last night were traded through the Izunia Facility!” 

____

Ignis just…clenched his jaw and gave a long sigh of resignation. “You’d best wash before going to the meeting. I’ll lay out some appropriate clothes.” 

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter before MPREG is explicitly mentioned. I know some people don’t like it, so there are no hard feelings if you choose to end the story here! You are free to imagine that this event led to both couples having their bonding and they all lived happily ever after!


	15. Positive

Noct and Gladio stared at the small thing white stick sitting on a scrap of fabric in the middle of the coffee table. Neither of them seemed to be able to look away, since Gladio had first brought it out and set it down on the glass surface-top. It was a symbol that something was going to change very drastically for them all very soon. 

And then Gladio voiced the question Noct almost didn’t want to know the answer to. “Who do you think it belongs to?” 

“Could be either of them. We all share that bathroom.” 

They stared a little while longer. 

It had been a month since Prompto had been presented to the court. They’d only just returned home – Prompto had been busy for weeks, meeting with the king and helping him build together enough evidence against the Izunia Facility, and the omega laws. There was still much to do, but for the moment they’d returned home to their den. 

It had been 28 days since the ball, the aftermath where every omega who had attended and sampled the punch had gone into heat. The reason for their being excused from court was because the affected omegas were due to go into heat again. 

Except, by the presence of this small item, one that they probably would have looked over if they hadn’t decided to help clean up while both the omegas of their pack were out for the afternoon. The small item with one symbol that meant one of the omegas wouldn’t be _having_ a heat this month. For many months. 

A small white stick, to bigger than his hand, capped with a blue lid – and a little square of plastic peeking into the inner workings, where two red lines exposed a secret. 

“Do you… want it to be Iggy’s?” Noct asked carefully, unable to drag his eyes away from the two lines. The positive result. 

“I…” The other alpha trailed off weakly. He was silent for a long moment, staring at the test. “I don’t honestly know.” Another long silence, and he finally dragged his gaze away to meet Noct’s. “Do you want it to be Prompto’s?” 

He was silent as he thought about it. About the future he could expect if this positive test result was Prompto’s. If Prompto was _carrying_ his child. A faint smile crossed his lips. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I kind of do.” He shook his thoughts off. “It’s up to Prompto, obviously, if he wants to keep it. But I’ll support him, _either_ way.” 

Gladio dropped his eyes back down to the pregnancy test on the crap of fabric. “…yeah,” he said eventually. “Me too.” 

They sat in silence for a long moment. “We should… keep going with the cleaning. They’ll be home soon.” 

They’d only gone out to the market, or at least that was what Ignis had said. The two of them hurried to continue their cleaning – getting the bathroom and Noct’s bedroom tidy before moving on to Ignis and Gladio’s rooms. They were just making the bed when the door opened. Ignis seemed surprised to see them both there. 

“…you’re making the bed wrong,” he said eventually. He approached them and begun tugging the sheets into the proper order, not quite meeting their eyes. “There is an important matter of some concern for you and the kingdom, Noct,” he said, in an official voice. “Pertaining to the events of the ball last month.” 

He frowned. A concern… for him? That would make him think it was _Prompto_ ’s test. But for the kingdom? …because of the line of succession? “Is this about…?”

“It seems,” he announced, ignoring the prince’s interruption. “That almost every omega who attended the ball has become pregnant as a result of the forced heat. There are a small number of exceptions, and some foreign guests who are out of the city and were unable to be tested. It seems there was an additional fertility component to the drug that was administered in the punch.” 

“All of them?” Gladio asked, taking a step towards Ignis. 

“After I received an unexpectedly positive result for a home test this morning, I contacted Drautos. He notified me that there had been a suspiciously large number of reports from the court of the same kind. All of the attending omegas were instructed to visit the court doctor so official tests could be administered. Almost all of the omegas conceived – including those who were unmated and those who were on a contraceptive program.” 

Gladio carefully reached out to touch his arm, turning the omega to face him. “And you…?”

Ignis pushed up his glasses, carefully avoiding the other alpha’s eyes. “You need not concern yourself with the situation, Gladiolus. I would need your permission if I wished to terminate, but I intend to carry to term. Apropos of our previous discussions I do not expect you to suffer any unwanted responsibility. You would have avoided this outcome if you were able to, therefore I am prepared to undertake sole responsibility.” 

“Iggy,” Gladiolus said quietly. His voice was so low, so intimate Noct felt like he _really_ shouldn’t be intruding on this private moment. He shifted restlessly, glancing towards the door just in time to see Gladio gently cup Iggy’s face in both hands. “The timing is not ideal, and I would’ve liked us to have some conversations first. But if this has happened now, then I’m not running away from it. I’ll be as deeply involved as you’ll let me, Ignis Scientia.” 

There was a long intense silence. When Ignis spoke, his voice was serious. “Noct. You’d best go speak to Prompto.” 

He didn’t need any further suggestions. He fled outside the room and sniffed the air. Prompto’s scent lingered and he followed it upstairs to the roof. His omega was sitting on the edge of the building, staring out over the city. The sun had passed behind the wall, plunging the streets into shade. 

He sat down beside him. “Hey.” He didn’t know what to say. Prompto didn’t look excited. Did he not _want_ this? Their conversations on the possibilities _had_ been positive, but always hypothetical. Maybe it wasn’t something his omega was actually prepared for. 

“Iggy tell you his news?” Prompto asked, not turning his face to look at him. 

Ignis? “Yeah,” Noct said quietly. “Gladio took it surprisingly well,” he commented. “I think he’s come around to the idea of parenthood.” He looked at him carefully. “It’s not unusual for people the change their minds about these things…” he offered. 

Prompto gave a miserable little laugh, until it dissolved into sniffles. He wiped at his face with the back of his hand. “Iggy didn’t tell you.” 

“No,” Noct said, trying to hide his obvious confusion. 

“I’m not,” Prompto said, his voice wracked with grief. “Every omega at that party except _me_ managed to conceive but _I couldn’t_.” 

Noct was quiet for a moment, watching his omega for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and looked out at the darkened city. “Then it’s not you, is it?” He suggested quietly. “It’s me. I’m sterile.” 

Prompto gave a bitter little laugh. “No,” he said, kicking his feet against the side of the building. “They ran full bloodwork. It’s me. I _can’t_. Ardyn smuggling in Eos’s most powerful fertility drug, and I still _can’t_.”

Noct touched his arm softly. “Do you want to get more tests?” He asked quietly. “Find out why it’s happening?” 

“We _know_ what’s happening,” Prompto said. “I’m _pre-bonded_ , Noctis. I can’t _be_ your mate. I can’t be _anything_ to you when I’m still a stranger’s bonded!” 

Noct shifted closer, wrapping an arm around him. “Prompto,” he said gently. “I don’t care if we’re not bonded, if you can’t conceive. You’re _my_ omega, my _mate_.”

Prompto leaned into him. “But I can’t…”

Noct ran fingers through his hair. “We walked into this knowing we most likely couldn’t,” he reminded him. “This isn’t news.” 

“It’s different now!” Prompto argued, pulling away from him. “Before it was _both of us_. You were _broken_ and I was _unmateable_. Now it’s just **me**!”

He gave a low growl and dug his teeth into the white scars of his bitemark. “So what, you think I’m too good for you now?” He demanded. 

“Uh… _duh_. Have you even _seen_ you? Or _smelt_ you? I can’t even _think_ about you being the prince of the kingdom, my fucking brain will explode.” 

Noct growled impatiently. He pulled him back down from the wall, pinning him on the silk grass. “And you?” He hissed. “You’re my perfect omega. You’re gorgeous, and your body drives me nuts. Your scent… Archaeon’s _dick_ the things it does to me. You’re coming out of your shell now, and I’m falling for who you are. I’d fight anyone who _looked at you admiringly_ \- why the hell do you think I’d let anyone else have you?” 

“You only think that because you’ve never had another omega,” Prompto mumbled, turning his face away. 

“I’ve _had_ another omega, Prompto. I had _Luna_ \- and I never felt for her the kind of things I feel for you.” He scraped his teeth against his neck again, pressing against the scent glands as he went. Then he pulled back, meeting Prompto’s eyes intently. “I helped her through all her heats, and I never felt as deep for her as I do for you.” 

“You couldn’t knot before,” his omega said, looking away to avoid his eyes. “Maybe it would’ve been different for you two if you could.” 

“I don’t want to knot her,” he growled, grabbing his hair to force him to meet his eyes again. “I want _you_. What can I do to make you believe that you’re the one for me, Prompto?” 

The omega leaned up to kiss Noct’s neck in return. “I don’t know, Noct. It’s been a really long day and I’m _so tired_. Can you just take me to bed and hold me tonight?" 

He hummed, pressing into his lips contentedly. “I’d love to, Prompto.”


	16. Verdict

“Prompto,” a familiar voice greeted. 

He turned slowly, an anxious knot building in his stomach as he spotted Ardyn Izunia approaching him through the halls. He bowed, politely, deferentially averting his eyes. "Chancellor Izunia." The king had promised Prompto wouldn’t have to confront him, but he had clearly slipped his escort to seek the omega out for a conversation. 

“Are you doing well, Prompto?” He asked, his expression composed in a scarily believable concerned interest. 

“I am,” he said, warily. “Thanks for asking,” 

Ardyn roved his eyes over him, lingering on his middle. “Are you not…? I had heard rumours that all the omegas who attended the party were tragically drugged with fertility drugs and have become pregnant.” 

He tugged at the bottom of his shirt, embarrassed and self-conscious. “I also heard those rumours,” he answered. That’s all he said about it. He wanted this conversation to be over. 

Ardyn leaned closer, and murmured quietly so they couldn’t be overheard by the passing courtiers preparing for the gathering. “Do you think it’s because of the pre-bond, Prompto?” 

He stiffened. Sure, Ardyn had _implied_ a lot at the ball, but he’d never come straight out and stated it before. “S…sorry?” 

“Your pre-bond,” he continued, in the same low voice. “Your DNA was taken from Professor Besithia, who was an already mated omega at the time. The doctors at the Facility told me their theories.” 

Prompto stepped back from the beta, his heart beginning to thump harder in his chest. “This is… you shouldn’t… that’s private!” He stumbled a few times before finally snapping at him. 

“I can help you, Prompto,” he murmured with a patient smirk. “I know the identity of Besithia’s alpha. I can bring her here, and the king can sever the bond.” 

Prompto swallowed. “Y…you could?” He asked, leaning closer and dropping his voice into a hushed voice. He could have his pre-bond severed, he could be free to become Noct’s omega. His _proper_ omega, not this almost-but-not-quite limbo. 

Ardyn smirked and patted his shoulder. “Just let me know, Prompto. Now I must go. There’s an important petition going through the court and I’ve been asked to attend as representative of the Council.” The Council for the Protection of Omegas, he meant. 

Ardyn swept off, his black-and-white coat tails sweeping across the marble floors. Prompto watched him go, and moved to sit down on a nearby chaise.

The pre-bond. Severed. 

He hadn’t had a heat in two months, not since the fake one induced by the drugs. He’d helped Noct through two ruts, and that had been great. Hot, sexy, fantastic – it was unbelievable to be the only thing Noct could think of and focus on for three whole days. If he’d thought sex was fantastic before, sex with knotting was mind-blowing. 

But he knew he wasn’t giving Noct everything he deserved. Ignis was four months along now, and all four of them had been almost obsessively watching for every little change the omega went through. He wasn’t going to get as round and… bulging as female omegas did. 

Male omega pregnancies were a little different than normal – Prompto had special private classes about it at the facility before his awful scent had kicked in and the likelihood of his being mated was less than zero. 

Male omegas just weren’t formed for pregnancy like female omegas and betas were. The may have wider hips than their alpha-beta counterparts, but they weren’t curved like females. Their wombs were different, and located _behind_ the digestive track unlike female wombs. It meant they didn’t protrude as much, and couldn’t carry for as long safely before there would be spine issues. Their babies were smaller, and only male. There was no breast development – all omegas needed formula or wet nurses; in the past, they’d had communal feeding with other omegas from dens. 

All these things had been used as arguments for the sterilization of omegas in the past. So called ‘ _proof_ ’ that they weren’t fit to bear children at all. There was so few male omegas left now. 

Maybe that’s why all of them surrounded and cossetted Ignis. His body was softened, and he’d gained some weight – his skin glowed, his hair was soft and growing in thick. His eyes were clear, his lips were rosy, and his scent was all home and family. 

He’d never be that for Noct. Not as things were. But if he wasn’t pre-bonded any more… 

Noct could look at him, like he looked at Ignis. The soft, affectionate look – like he was staring into the future. It wouldn’t be Ignis’s child he’d be raising as his heir, as their den’s baby. It would be him, and it would be theirs. 

“Prompto?” That was Drautos, the king’s… well, he had no idea what Drautos exactly was. Was he kind of like Regis’s Ignis? Who knows. 

He stood up. “Yeah,” he straightened his clothes again. “Yeah, I’m ready.” 

“Follow me.” They walked in silence for a long moment. “I’m surprised the prince is letting you out without an escort, in your _condition_?”

He squirmed. “There’s no… condition,” he answered. “I’m not…like the other omegas.” 

Drautos came to a stop, and turned to face him. “You’re not impregnated?” 

That was… a really creepy way of putting it. “Uh. No.” 

The scarred face was stiff, cold blue eyes staring him down with an intensity that scared him. “Every person at that ball was dosed with enough to combat even years of contraceptive therapy for the omegas, and to boost the sperm production of the alphas by two hundred percent.” 

Prompto stepped back, taking a slow, deep breath. “How do you know that?” He asked, moving into a more defensive stance. 

“That is not your concern,” Drautos replied. 

He reached forward to grip Prompto’s shoulder, but the omega ducked away from him and raced down the hallway. He got lost amongst the labyrinth corridors, but he did eventually find a window. He climbed out of it and made his way to the front of the citadel. 

He ducked into the nearest subway station, fishing his wallet out of his pocket. Ignis had given him an emergency credit card, and he used it to buy a train ticket to his side of town. But as he got to the platform, one of the guards came over to him. “Omega,” he barked, “where is your escort? Your hood?” 

“Sorry, what?” He asked, confused. 

“I said,” he answered – louder and slower as if Prompto couldn’t understand him. “Where is your escort and your modesty hood?” 

“I’m just trying to get home from the citadel,” he replied. “My alpha’s there.” 

“You’re gonna have to call him,” the guard said, walking him towards the guard’s office. He shut him in and locked the door. “You may use the telephone for one call.” 

Well, fuck. “Leviathan’s butt.” He headed over to the phone and picked it up. He only knew Iggy’s number, ‘cause it was stuffed in his wallet behind the Ebony store loyalty card. 

It rung a few times, before Ignis picked up. “You better have a good explanation prepared, Prompto,” he greeted. “Without you the case against Chancellor Izunia fell through. They’ve got enough to review the omega laws, but the whole kingdom was _relying_ on you, Prompto.” 

“It was Drautos,” he replied. “At the ball. If he didn’t do it himself, he knew about it. He told me stuff about what the drugs did. He was… angry, that I wasn’t, like the rest of them.” 

There was a long silence. “He _was_ present when Noct let his father know that there would be a change in the line of succession, but he wasn’t present for the particulars.” Ignis gave a deep sigh. “Where are you?” 

“Citadel Station,” he mumbled. “Platform Two. They locked me in the guard’s room. He kept asking me about where my escort was, and why I wasn’t wearing a hood.” 

Ignis sighed. “Subways are a restricted zone,” he said tiredly. “I’ll call Gladio. Drautos has had the Kingsglaive out looking for you. He’ll pick you up and contact them to let Drautos know you’ve been found. He’ll keep you away from the citadel for a while.” 

“Can you get him to bring one of the hoods too? I feel like the guard is going to be dick about it if he doesn’t.” 

The other omega sighed. “Yes, Prompto. Of course.” 

It felt like hours until Gladiolus arrived – watching the doors, not knowing who would come first. A kingsglaive, or his… friend, he supposed. But it _was_ the alpha who arrived. He spoke to the guard as if _they_ was in the wrong for detaining Prompto, passed the hood in to him to put on before the guard would let them out. 

Gladiolus was silent in the car, and it wasn’t until they were in the elevator that he spoke. “Titus Drautos? The leader of the kingsglaive?” 

“Yeah. Him.” He glanced at Gladio. “Are you… mad at me?” 

“Furious,” the alpha answered. “We’re all trying to do our part for the omega laws, and you were meant to help. You were the most solid evidence against General Izunia, and you _bailed_.”

“I ‘ _bailed_ ’,” Prompto copied his tone, and used air quotes too, “because I thought Drautos was going to do something to me. Drug me or trap me or cut me open for testing. I _panicked_ , okay? I **told** you and Noct that I didn’t want to go on my own. But you all needed to clear the spare room for the nursery. I was _scared_.”

Gladio sighed. “We should have arranged to go with you. Hindsight.” He ran a hand through his hair as the elevator doors opened. “You’ll probably be stuck in the apartment for a while. Drautos is… a powerful man. It’s going to hard to get anyone to believe you over him.” 

“I know,” he said quietly. “I’m just some barren omega nobody, and he’s the king’s left hand. I just hope…” He glanced around the apartment, saw Noct and Ignis inside the open door of the spare room. He dropped his voice to a low murmur. “I just hope someone can figure everything out and make sure he doesn’t caught any more damage soon.” 

“Prompto!” Noct called from the nursery. “Come on. Ignis wants a third opinion on the colour schemes.” 

He gave Gladio a weak smile. “I’m sorry about Izunia. I fucked up.” He took a deep breath, clenched his stomach around the hollow feeling, and fixed a smile on his face. Then he headed in to help out Noct and Ignis.


	17. Memory Box

Prompto had never known that _alphas_ nested before. Nesting was a heat thing for omegas, an urge to create a safe and comfortable and secure place to hole out their heats. Alpha nesting was _different_. Their nesting was about _the pack_ , about _children_. Ignis himself had only the vaguest interest in decorating the nursery – his efforts were purely practical. A crib, changing table, bits and pieces Ignis said were completely necessary. 

It was Noct and Gladio were the ones _fussing_. Colours and fabrics and blankets and toys and hanging mobiles and, “ _music_ , Ignis! Certain music has been proven to promote cognitive development in newborns! Do you _want_ our baby to have stunted mental capacity?” 

Ignis glanced up from his bowl of Leidan peppers and sylkis greens. “I merely stated that there’s no reason to install a seven-speaker surround sound system wired into the walls of the room,” he answered calmly. “A simple radio will do.” 

Gladio seemed outraged, but Prompto looked over as Noct tugged on the other alpha’s arm excitedly. He was holding up his phone. “But Gladio _look at this_ CD player. It’s shaped like a carbuncle!” 

The two of them cooed at the phone for a few minutes, and the surround sound discussion seemed to be over. They stood up abruptly. “We’re going to the mall. We’re going to pick up the CD player and maybe some other things. We’ll see when we get there.” 

Prompto turned back to the window and continued wiping off the dust from the glass. It slowly let light into the otherwise dim room. Noct and Gladiolus had been leaving the house so often lately – or maybe it just felt that was because he was stuck inside. For his own safety. Even Ignis left more often than him, with all his appointments and physical sessions. Sometimes he was left alone in the den for hours on end. 

He was jealous, on all fronts. That it wasn’t _his_ baby Noct was getting so excited about, that all the effort they were putting in to welcome the new member of the pack just reminded him how _little_ they’d done to make him feel at home. Sure, his arrival wasn’t as miraculous as the birth of a child, but they hadn’t done _anything_ for him. 

He hadn’t even had _clothes_ for weeks. He’d worn Noct’s clothes, when he hadn’t stayed naked in the alpha’s room waiting for him to come back. Up until Ignis had announced he was making Noct’s clothes smell unsightly for public use and brought him his own. 

Not that he didn’t want the baby! Not at all. He couldn’t wait for his nephew, to smother the kid with all the attention Ignis and Gladio would let him get away with. There was only a couple months left until Ignis’s scheduled Caesarian. 

But the time was wearing on him. Drautos had vanished, but Prompto was still advised to remain in the den for his own safety. In the meantime the king was in frequent sessions with the Council for the Protection of Omegas, and the government to fiercely debate on the changes to the omega laws. The only thing that had been decided so far, and immediately put into action, was that not all omegas were forced to stay at the facility any more. Families could take them home, but they still had to attend daily lessons, and attend whatever gatherings or interviews the Aunts decided to assign them. It was a start, at least, but Prompto couldn’t help but think if he had gone to the hearing things could’ve gone faster. Chancellor Izunia wouldn’t have been around, arguing on the side of the facility to block every attempt at changing the laws. 

But he couldn’t do anything about it now. He’d panicked – he had no idea _what_ Drautos could have been planning with him. It might’ve been nothing – he might’ve been taken to the hearing, and done his part. It was no wonder Ignis had been so mad at him. He’d screwed everything up. 

Omegas were still trapped there – Ardyn was still looming over everything, pulling all the strings. 

Noct was never home. His father was busy dealing with the legislature, so he’d been tasked with severing bonds. His father lent him his sword, and use of the ancient magics that belonged to their royal line. He was out all day, busy filling in for his father, and when he got home in the evenings he was busy pampering Ignis and online shopping with Gladiolus for the baby. Except for the week just past, during his rut. Then the two of them had three glorious days with just one another. 

“Are you quite well, Prompto?” 

He startled out of his thoughts, turning to look at Ignis. “Huh?” 

The other omega was quietly rocking back and forth on the rocking chair. It was carved ebony – Gladiolus had thought that was a nice joke – with the seat and back and arms upholstered in black fabric with gold emboidery. The Lucian colours. There was an embroidery circle in his lap, but the needle was tucked and the circle was held only loosely in his hand. He’d been embroidering over the past few days – the Scientia and Amicitia family crests, over the past few days. But today he’d joined with strange deep-red flowers between them. Five petalled, almost like a scar, but full and round at the base. 

“It’s almost done,” he said gesturing the dust rag towards the embroidery circle. “You added flowers.” 

“Indeed.” He fingered the edge of the linen. “Gladio’s omega line have a naming tradition- flower names. Iris, Linaria before her, Nocotiana before her, Narcissa, Valeriana, beginning with Daphne. Not the Amicitias, but Lady Amicitia gave Gladiolus a flower name too so he wanted to carry on the tradition.” Prompto blinked, pulling the curtains back into place. “Oh, you two picked a name?” “I did.” Ignis answered smugly. He traced a finger around the half-stitched petals. “Lenten Roses, my omega father used to grow them in the flower boxes outside my nursery. Helleborus orientalis. He will be Helleborus, and Gladio can suck it up.” 

Prompto grinned. Helleborus. It was… cute. “Does that mean I can call him Lenny?” He teased. 

Ignis looked at him blankly. “Certainly. So long as you wish to subsist purely on army rations for the rest of your life.” 

Prompto laughed. “Fine, fine. Not Lenny.” He started wiping down the other surfaces in the room. 

“I don’t recall being told that I ought to be so utterly exhausted in the last trimester,” Ignis announced, bringing the rocking to a stop as he took up his embroidery again. “I have no energy, and yet I am bored out of my mind. Embroidery is about all I can manage, and I'm finishing my projects far too quickly." 

Prompto hummed. “I’ll teach you to knit,” he said idly, moving the random little ceramic animals one by one to dust them individually. “You can make baby blankets and embroider linen roses all over them.” 

“ _Lenten_ roses, Prompto,” he huffed, slowly passing the needle in and out of the linen. He paused, a vine touching the bottom of the Amicitia crest. “You know,” he said, with some surprise. “I don’t believe I ever asked what _your_ last name was, before you became Noct’s.” 

Prompto turned to look at him. “I didn’t know it changed. You’re still Scientia.” 

Ignis looked at him over the rim of his glasses. “It was in the paperwork he signed with the facility.” 

“Oh.” He turned back to dusting the figurines. “Argentum.” 

There was a long pause, and when he turned to glance why, Ignis was staring at him, his face unreadable. “Argentum. Prompto Argentum?” 

“Uh, yeah.” He wrinkled his face up in confusion. “Why?” 

“I know that name,” the other omega answered, his face pulling into a frown as he concentrated. He shook his head with a sigh. “Ah, I can’t think.” 

“Baby brain,” Prompto teased. He set down the last figurine. “I’m sure if it’s important, it’ll come back to you. When you least expect it.” He packed up the cleaning basket. “I’ll leave you to it. I’ve got the rest of the den to clean.” 

Ignis hummed in thought and focused back on his embroidery as he left the room. 

It was when he was finally settled down for the night with Noct – pressing needy kisses against his sleepy alpha’s lips – that Ignis burst into the room. “I’ve remembered!” 

“Specs,” Noctis grumbled, “what do you want? We’re in bed.” 

“I’ve remembered _why_ your name was so familiar.” He sat down on the edge of the bed, and Noctis quickly made him comfortable with pillows and blankets. “Prompto Argentum. Lady Lunafreya mentioned you, numerous times.” 

Prompto blinked. “She did?” He couldn’t believe that she actually _remembered_ him. 

“Wait, how do you know Luna?” Noct asked, turning to squint suspiciously at his omega. 

“I don’t, really. I found Chibi when I was a kid… uh, I mean, Pryna.” The small little white puppy who’d got injured and escaped his care. “Lady Lunafreya sent me a letter when Pryna got home.” 

“Yes, she was quite concerned about you,” Ignis responded, “she asked if I could track you down and check on your wellbeing – in case you were an omega and you were under the laws. Prompto Argentum,” he shook his head. “I spent weeks trying to find any trace of you.” 

“Yeah, the Izunia Facility sealed most of their omegas’ files once they were stuck in there.” He shrugged. 

Ignis didn’t quite reply to that. But he did take out a shoebox out from the crook of his arm and hand it over. “These are yours, then.” 

“Huh?” He took the box and carefully opened it up. He almost burst into tears when he saw what was inside. His striped, green wristband, the one he’d worn almost all his life; his last pair of prescription glasses; his red digital camera from middle school and stacks of his favourite photos; the professional black camera he’d gotten as a reward for getting into the best high school that he’d barely used; and finally, Lady Lunafreya’s letter. “Ignis…”

The other omega gently touched his hand and headed back out of the room. Prompto watched him go, then turned his attention back to Noct. 

His alpha had picked up the glasses and the wristband, his brows screwing up in a serious frown as he studied them. 

“What?” Prompto asked, uncertain. 

“I met you,” he said, picking up the red camera. “We went to Middle School together. You wanted to show me photos, and then you _never spoke to me again_.” He sounded upset by the idea. 

Prompto rubbed a hand through his own hair nervously. “I was… shy,” he answered, and it wasn’t even a lie. “I didn’t feel _good enough_ to be your friend. But I really **wanted** to.” 

Noctis sighed. “I wish you had, Prompto,” he admitted softly. “I was so lonely growing up.” 

Prompto kissed him tentatively. “I’m sorry,” he apologized quietly. “But I’m here now, right? And I’m not _going_ anywhere.” 

Noct nuzzled into his neck with another heavy exhale. “Yeah. You’re with me now…”


	18. Severance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry

“I can’t do this any more, Noct!” Prompto shouted, shoving over a standing mirror. 

The alpha, startled by his omega’s sudden outburst, ignored the smashed mirror and turned to look at the blond. He looked wild, hair in every direction instead of its usual carefully groomed spikes. “Prompto?” He asked gently. “What’s….?” 

“I can’t _stay_ here any more, Noct!” he continued, sounding unhinged. 

His stomach twisted in upset. “You… you’re _leaving me_?” He demanded, distraught. 

“Huh? Oh, no!” Prompto said quickly, coming to press into his chest. Noct sealed his arms around him tightly, his panic slowly subsiding. “I can’t stay _stuck inside_ here any more. I’m going to climb down the _roof_ if I have to stay trapped inside here for much longer. And then I’m gonna be broken and stuck for _even longer_.”

“Shhh,” Noct soothed, stroking a hand down his omega’s back to calm him down. “It’s fine, Prompto. It’s okay. You can come with me today, it’ll be fine.” 

Prompto rested his chin on Noct’s shoulder. “Okay… thank you.” He sounded so utterly _relieved at the offer. “I better get ready.”_

__

Noct nodded. “Okay. I’ll go tell Gladio the change of plans.” He let his omega go and headed out. 

__

He found the other couple in the nursery. Ignis was sitting in the rocking chair, and Gladio was knelt on the ground next to him. The alpha had his ear pressed against his mate’s stomach, his expression very serious. 

__

“I’m telling you, Gladiolus,” Ignis said, his voice fond, “it’s not like Iris when you were a child. He’s too far back for you to feel.” 

__

“I just wanna feel Hellebore,” the alpha complained, almost childishly sulky. 

__

“Helleborus,” Ignis corrected, amused. 

__

“And I’m _Gladio_ ,” the alpha responded, amused. “He can be Hellebore.” 

__

“Or Lenny,” Noct pointed out from the doorway, amused. 

__

“ _No_ ,” Ignis replied instantly, his voice irritated. He glanced over. “You’ve been talking to Prompto, haven’t you?” 

__

“Occasionally,” Noct replied. “Gladio, Prompto’s coming with us to the Citadel. I want you to keep an eye on him, in case Drautos has accomplices waiting for him to show up.” 

__

Gladio sat up and scowled in disapproval. “But then no one will be home with Iggy!” 

__

“Gladio, I am beyond capable of spending a day on my own,” the omega answered, sounding disapproving. “It won’t even be the full day, Noct’s always home in the afternoon. I will be perfectly fine on my own.” 

__

“But what if something _happens_?” The other alpha demanded, his voice going rough – giving away his growing panic. 

__

“Then I will call the emergency services,” Ignis responded calmly, reassuringly. 

__

It didn’t work. Gladio was still angry, insisting Prompto _had_ to stay at home with Ignis, who couldn’t be left alone in case of an emergency that prevented him from seeking help himself. It wasn’t until Ignis decided he would come to the Citadel as well, “that way you can keep a close, personal eye on me.” 

__

At least their argument gave Prompto time to dress for the day. Noct was very tempted to drag his omega back to bed and keep them both occupied there all day. How did his omega always look so good? It just wasn’t fair. 

__

There weren’t many severances lined up for the day. Noct was glad – maybe he could take Prompto out to the gardens or somewhere nice after they were done for the day. He didn’t want his omega to have to see this. Severing a bond wasn’t easy. 

__

Noct had to call on the powers of his bloodline, and sort of fuzz out his eyes until he could see the threads of the bond between the pair. Sometimes the threads were limp, other times they were frayed, and almost disturbingly often the threads were squeezing almost painfully tight around the omega. 

__

Bonds were only supposed to be a sacred connection between lovers, an equal connection of trust and love. Bonds couldn’t be _forced_ , both parties had to know what they were doing and _want_ the connection for it to come into existence. But couples could enter the bond for the wrong reasons, or be pressured or tricked into it. 

__

His father had admitted, while teaching him how to perform the ceremony, that since the omega laws had changed he’d seen more and more unhealthy bonds as time passed. “More omegas trapped by their bonds, by their alphas, tangling and twisting themselves up more because they’re _afraid_ of what happens when they end the partnership.” 

__

He hadn’t believed it before – why would they? – but he’d seen it with his own eyes. He was glad he could help rescue them for that – and now they could go back home to their families, instead of being forced back to the omega facilities. There were some who didn’t have families, or families who wouldn’t take them back, who didn’t have a choice about going back. Not to the Izunia, they were for young omegas and ones awaiting their first mating. To another facility on the outskirts of town. 

__

The severing ceremony wasn’t easy on either the alpha or the omega. Some were being severed for the safety of the omega – at the authority and intervention of the Omega Refuge Society. Some were mutual decision. Others were paid off by either of their families, the relationship unsuitable. Some of those were the hardest – since the decision to sever wasn’t entirely their decision and sometimes unwanted. 

__

There was a physical reaction to having a bond severed, and how strong it was depended on a number of factors. How old the bond was, the emotions of each person towards the other, their desire towards the bond and the severance, what part of their cycle they each were on, the state of the bond at the time, and their emotional state during the ceremony. 

__

Some people fainted. Some people only got headaches. Some people had heart attacks. Some people went catatonic. In rare cases, ones his father had only warned him about, some people had slipped into a coma. There was one known case of actual deaths. Before the laws changed to say parties had to agree to the severance – except for the case of an omega’s safety – a pack leader could elect to sever any bond they disapproved of. 

__

In the case his father had reluctantly told him about, the pack leader of a very powerful, old fashioned pack had discovered his alpha son had secretly bonded to an omega from a feuding pack. He had demanded the couple be separated. Both alpha and omega had died – not instantly. But both had become comatose and slowly deteriorated until they wasted away and died. 

__

It was a horror story, a warning to everyone about how _serious_ bonds were meant to be taken. Noct hadn’t really believed it – like an old wives’ tale – but his father had solemnly informed him of the facts as he prepared him to learn the sacred ceremony. 

__

The last of the scheduled severances happened for the day – an omega tangled up and almost suffocating under her bond with an aggressive-looking alpha had fainted at the release and was quickly being carried out by a worker from the Omega Refuge Society. The room was empty, and he stood, prizing his father’s sword from the floor, feeling weak on his feet. 

__

He opened his mouth to conclude the session for the day, but the doors burst open dramatically. Ardyn swept in, a few steps ahead of an elderly Niff woman. An alpha, her expression serious. Gladiolus stepped forward protectively. “General Izunia.” 

__

The beta held up his hands with a smile. “I apologize for startling you. I merely wanted to ensure I arrived before the session formally ended for the day.” He gestured. “This is Lady Cecilia Highwind, the former alpha of the late Professor Verstael Besithia.” 

__

Noct could practically _feel_ his omega’s sharp intake of breath from beside the window. 

__

“Verstael Besithia?” Noct asked, glancing at Gladio for clarification. 

__

Prompto was the one who answered. “The, uh, mastermind of the cloning facility for Empties.” 

__

“For the…” The reality struck him. “Oh!” Horror settled in his gut. This was the alpha who was bonded to the omega that had given his DNA to create the Empties. This was… this was the alpha Prompto was _pre-bonded_ to. A low growl rumbled in his chest he tried to curtail. 

__

“Noct…” Promtpo said weakly. 

__

“Mr Izunia informed me that there was a rogue Empty about who was still pre-bonded to me,” the lady answered. “I apologise – if we had known, I would’ve come to curtail the issue sooner.” She had long white hair and she swept it over her shoulder. “Your highness, if you’d like to assist?” 

__

His heart was racing. He didn’t have time to _think_ about this. Prompto’s alpha was here, and she was suggesting he sever the bond. Sever the bond. Free Prompto. And then they could be properly bonded, if that’s what he wanted. It was too much. Too overwhelming.” 

__

He glanced behind him at his omega. “Prompto?” He asked, his voice soft and patient. “It’s up to you.” 

__

Prompto nodded. “Yes,” he said, stepping forward. “I don’t want to be pre-bonded to a stranger.” He glanced at the elderly woman. “…no offense.” 

__

“None taken,” she answered. “As much as you remind me as my dear omega when he was in his prime.” 

__

Ardyn clapped. “Let’s do this then. No time to waste.” 

__

Noct headed over to get a drink, mentally prepare himself for the task. Gladio cornered him, whispering: “Noct, perhaps you should hold off on this. Prompto isn’t prepared for this. We don’t even know if this woman was Besithia’s real alpha." 

__

“Why would either of them lie about this?” Noct murmured back. “Besides. I have to see the bond before I sever it. I’ll know if it’s a lie.” 

__

The other alpha frowned, but stepped back. “I suggest you wait, so you both can prepare for this.” 

__

Noct shrugged him off. “Prompto said he wanted this. Now. And…” he flushed slightly. “My rut’s soon. If we do this now, we could bond then!” 

__

Gladio sighed. He ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “I can’t argue with that. Just as long as you’re sure.” 

__

Noct took a deep breath. “Lady Highwind, if you could stand here.” He indicated the place usually occupied by the alpha in the ceremony. Then he went to carefully lead Prompto into place. “This is going to be difficult, Prompto. You’ve seen the cases today, it’s not easy.” 

__

“I know.” Prompto rested his forehead against Noct’s for a moment. “This is for us. I could be _yours_ , Noct. Not some stranger’s I’ve never met.” 

__

He smiled and squeezed his hand. “Alright. Let’s do this then.” He placed Prompto in the correct place and stood between them. 

__

Facing the omega, as was traditional. He had to physically come between the bond. He took a deep breath, focusing. Running through everything his father had taught him to do. Let his eyes sort of fuzz out until he was looking at something that wasn’t quite there. A blue-white thread of light, passing from the middle of Prompto’s chest through Noct’s own. They were the same height, some of the taller alphas ended up with their bonds poking through Noct’s face. 

__

His father’s sword in hand, he raised it above the bond. He spoke the words of ceremony, the declaration about the severing of the sacred bond. And then he swung the sword down. 

__

He should’ve thought about it longer. Concentrated harder. Because as the sword began to swing down, he realized he’d been wrong. 

__

The bonds stretched with distance, thickest at the ends and thinner in the middle. He stood between them, slightly closer to the alpha but facing the omega, so that he could cleanly cut the bond at its weakest. 

__

But as the blade fell in his stroke, he saw what was wrong. It wasn’t thinnest just before him, where he was aiming. It was thinnest a foot further ahead, an equal distance between his and Prompto’s chest. 

__

He couldn’t think about it, he didn’t have even a moment to. It was sheer instinct, panic and protectiveness. He shoved the blade aside as far as he could, out of the way of the bond. _Their_ bond. _His and Prompto’s_.

__

But it wasn’t enough. The side of the blade sliced through the edge of the bond. He felt it. Something _more_ than physical pain, so much worse. His sight tunneled, and he called for Prompto. His hand grasping out for his falling omega was the last thing he saw before the darkness closed around him.

__


	19. Shock

The nurse finished straightening the sheets around the prince’s bed, quietly asking him if he needed anything before departing the room. Hours ago, Ignis had muted the heart monitor of its ambient beeping. It would still blare an alarm if there was an irregular pattern, but he’d gotten frustrated by the repetitive bleeping only a few minutes in. 

Gladiolus had carried Noctis into the sitting room, frantic, the prince unconscious arms. Ignis had been forced to wait until they had the prince safely in the hospital for Gladio to calm enough to tell him what had happened. The other alpha hadn’t even thought about Prompto until Iggy had asked. 

Prompto had been missing for hours, until they were informed that he’d been admitted to the Izunia Facility for severance shock. Ignis had tried to get him transferred to the private hospital – but Noctis had _severed_ their bond. He officially belonged back to Council of the Protection of Omegas. 

Their _bond_. How hadn’t he seen it? As soon as he’d heard the name ‘ _Prompto Argentum_ ’ he should’ve suspected, should have lined the pieces up and seen the truth. 

The symptoms of an alpha suffering from a bond disorder weren’t very well known, what cases there had been in the past weren’t documented because an alphas solved their pre-bond by bonding with another omega. There had only been a few cases of a pre-bond _preventing_ an alpha from bonding with another, and seemingly no explanation for _how_. 

But now that he thought back on it, Noct’s symptoms were obvious. His inability to knot, a lack of ruts, his stunted sense of smell. And then once he’d met Prompto… or rather, reuinited with the omega, the unusually fast attachment that led to him being picked despite plans, the possessiveness, the fact that Prompto’s smell hadn’t disgusted him _at all_ , his knot and ruts developing after mating with Prompto. 

He had never thought to even consider it. Because why would anyone have announced that they were pre-bonded to the _prince_? Excecpt… Prompto hadn’t known his alpha was _Noct_. The doctor at the Izunia Facility had hypothesized that it was Besithia’s bonded alpha, on a DNA level. No one had ever questioned, considered whether the other Empties were pre-bonded too, or if there was a possibility that there was anyone _else_ he could have made that connection with. 

And now look what his lack of thought had led to. Noct had severed their bond and was likely _dying_ from the severance shock. It was their duty, his and Gladio’s, to protect Noct and they had failed from seeing the obvious. 

The door opened again, and he opened his eyes to look at the newcomer. He had expected another nurse, to check on any changes, or a doctor at last. But no. 

King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII entered the room, preceded by Gladiolus who held the door open for him. Ignis swallowed the lump on his throat, setting aside his forgotten knitting to raise to his feet in greeting. 

The king waved him off. “Sit, Ignis. Not in your condition.” 

He instinctively pressed a hand to his curving stomach. Hellaborus was calm, sleeping after hours of restlessness – almost as if he could _feel_ Ignis’s anxiety. “Your majesty. I apologise, I should have…”

“No,” the king said quietly. “ **I** should have. As soon as his rut cycle didn’t start, I should have looked. Should have _checked_ to see if he had a bond.” He sat down, taking Noct’s pale, limp hand. “But he never mentioned… that he had met someone that he had made a connection with. He never mentioned having a _friend_ even. And now he is suffering, and it is my fault.” 

“I should’ve known as soon as he said that Prompto didn’t smell that bad. Who else could put up with that stench than a bonded mate?” Gladio offered, shaking his head. 

“Sitting around blaming each other is not going to help either of them,” Ignis announced, sitting up straighter. “Prompto needs to be transferred out of the Izunia Facility. I have to contact the Refuge Society—”

“It’s alright, Ignis,” Regis said quietly. “I’ve contacted the Argentums, they’re picking him up and bringing him here as soon as they can sort out the paperwork.” 

He relaxed slightly. One less thing he had to worry about. He settled back in his chair, missing the comfortable rocking chair of the nursery. Gladio came over to stand behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder. A slight, warm comfort. He needed it. 

“What can we do?” Gladio asked, watching the king seriously. 

“Mostly waiting,” he answered, his voice resigned. “When Prompto arrives, the doctors can assess their physical condition and run brain scans. I can test their psychic damage, and if I need to assist by detangling them from the remains of the severed bond, I can. But then… we wait. Whether they get through this or not is up to them.” 

Ignis sighed and bowed his head. He didn’t want to wait. He wanted to be _doing_ something – thinking through a problem, even if he wasn’t in physical condition to act with anything. 

“Iggy,” Gladio said quietly. “Do you want to go home?” 

“I don’t want to leave him,” Ignis admitted. 

His alpha sighed, squeezing his shoulder. He didn’t argue, but he did leave the room shortly afterward. He came back an hour later, carrying Iggy’s own rocking chair with a dizzying display of strength. He was grateful beyond words, sinking into it and leaving the less comfortable recliner to sink into it. 

Gladio left it for the king to take, sitting on a hard plastic chair. It was hours again before the door opened and they pushed a moving gurney into the room. Prompto was tucked under the white, low-quality sheets – lifeless except for the faint rise and fall of his chest. 

They were banished from the room while they set up the second patient and ran the initial tests. He headed to the cafeteria, taking greedy inhales of Gladio’s coffee. The biggest struggle of his pregnancy had been his ban from coffee. It was the one thing he loved most in the world. Gladio was a close second, though he knew not how that hierarchy would change once Helleborus was born. 

“You need to eat, Ignis,” his alpha said, pushing the plate even closer. “I realize you're nervous, but Lenny needs sustenance too.” 

He snarled impatiently. “If _one more person_ calls Helleborus Lenny I’m going to leave _all_ of you and move to Altissia.” 

Gladio smiled and patted his hand, before putting a fork into it. “I don’t believe you in the slightest. Altissia has worse single omega parenting laws than we do.” 

He grumbled and started eating. After a long moment, his appetite caught up and he finished his own plate, before sliding Gladio’s away from his hands and finishing it off himself. 

Once they were finished, they headed back to the room. King Regis still hadn’t returned and it was just their two den fellows lying in the room. There was a soft woosh of the breathing machine attached to Prompto, and the infuriating atonal, regular beeps of the two heart monitors. 

Agitated, he settled down into his rocking chair. “Gladio, can you turn those off?” 

“Uh. If you tell me how?” His alpha headed over to take care of it, following his specific instructions. 

And then something sunk through his hormone-fogged brain. “Wait!” 

Gladio froze, finger on the first button. “Why?” 

“Just… listen.” 

There was a long pause. “What am I listening to?” His alpha asked, confused. 

“Can’t you hear that?” Ignis asked, closing his eyes slowly. 

“…no?” 

Ignis took a deep breath, letting everything else disappear until it was just the sounds of the two heart monitors. “It’s perfect harmony,” he answered slowly. “Gladio, their hearts are in sync.” 

“…still?” 

Ignis opened his eyes, surprised, and looked at Gladio. “What do you mean ‘still’, Gladio?” He asked, confused. 

“I mean… bonded mates have synchronized resting heartbeats,” Gladio replied. “Something I picked up from Noct’s lessons about severance, I guess. Little known fact about bondmates.” 

“But if their bond was severed, why are they still…?” He trailed off, staring at the two heart monitors. “We need King Regis to inspect the bond,” he announced. “I don’t think it’s severed. I think Noctis made a mistake.”

It was hours before King Regis could come again, and he arrived looking tired and dressed in plainclothes. He was weary, but it was only a few moments before he inspected the two of them utilizing the sacred powers of their bloodline. 

He sat back in the armchair, looking tired out. “He didn’t sever it,” he answered, his voice rough with exhaustion. “It’s injured. I’ve heard of a case where one tried to sever their own bond. If he realized at the last moment, tried to stop the ceremony…”

“So what now?” Ignis asked, leaning carefully toward him. “Can it be fixed?” 

“There’s nothing _we_ can do,” Regis answered, resigned, “not to fix it. It’s fraying, and their life-force is leaking out of the wound.” He turned to look at the unconscious pair. “I could sever the bond, give it a clean break instead. But… the psychic shock of the severance so soon after the injury could cause permanent damage. On the other hand, if they are unable to fix the damaged bond, they could slowly waste away to nothing.” 

Gladio sucked in a breath through his teeth, looking between the two of them. “So… what do we do?” 

Ignis looked between them. “We have to decide for them. One way or another.”


	20. Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter, guys. Medical stuff that completely knocked me out of the game. There is an epilogue after this, and then that's the end of Pre-Determined!

Absently, Noctis knew he was dreaming. At the same time of the long, winding adventures and scenes that made sense only to dream logic; he also knew that any moment Ignis would be coming in to wake him up from his blissful refuge. Sleep had always been his favourite thing to do. But in a sticky part of his brain, he understood that he _couldn’t_ wake up. 

He had to be careful. They said if you died in a dream, you’d never wake up. 

How long had it been? What had happened to him? It wasn’t natural – even for him – to keep sleeping like this. But even as he knew about it, he couldn’t drag himself out of it. Something wasn’t right. 

But the conscious thoughts slipped away again, and he was lost in the flow of his dreams. 

An unknown amount of time passed, and he became aware again. Slipping out of a dream wandering through an endless field of sylleblossoms, in pursuit of Luna’s white dog, Pryna. He became aware of his body, disconnected from his mind, lying somewhere uncomfortable and cold. 

There was a voice. Ignis. Iggy was speaking. “Noctis, please. Hear me.” Why did he sound so distressed? “You must wake up, Noct. You simply must.” 

He tried. He really did. He hated to hear his oldest friend so distressed. But he couldn’t move, couldn’t pry open his eyes. He struggled for so long, he exhausted himself and slipped back away. 

Lucis had a warm climate. It had a little dusting of snow maybe once a year, flakes that melted before they ever touched the ground. But he knew what snow was, understood ‘ _cold_ ’ as a concept. 

But this was cold. Cold like he could never understand it. Unbearable cold, slicing like a thousand knives into every inch of his skin. He couldn’t feel his fingers, toes, face. But everything else was _sheer pain_. His limbs wouldn’t move – but his eyes eventually saw through the blinding white light. 

Ahead of him, Prompto was walking through the snow. He was naked, clutching himself tight to keep as much warmth in as possible. 

He stumbled forward, eyes open in terror. “Prompto!” 

His omega whipped around. His mouth moved, forming the shape of Noct’s name. But his knees buckled, and he fell towards the snow. Noct tried to rush towards him, but as soon as he lifted his foot the world shifted on its axis. 

And then he was floating again, in his own body. There was the soft click of what he eventually figured out was knitting needles. Ignis, again. He tried his utmost to move, to lift a single finger, anything. 

“…Noct?” Ignis voice was soft, hopeful. By the sound of it, he put aside his knitting and stood up out of the rocking chair. “Can you hear me, Noct?” 

He tried to move, to try and let Ignis know that was a yes. _I can hear you, Specs._

He felt a hand carefully taking his. “Listen to me, Noct. You damaged your bond to Prompto. _You_ were his pre-bond, if you can’t remember that. Your damaged bond is leaking both your life force.” 

That’s right. He’d forgotten. The severance ceremony. Ardyn, Prompto, the bond between them. It was _them_. They were bonded, and had been for ten years. 

The tiredness gripped at him and he allowed it to pull him back towards slumber. 

“No, Noct, wait!” Igns hissed, squeezing his hand in a viciously tight grip. “I need you to _listen_.” It pushed back the exhaustion, concentrating on the pain in his hand. “If you can’t repair the bond, we’ll have to sever it. You’re both going to die if it continues to slowly leak out.” 

Then they should sever it. He and Prompto could never bond again, not with anyone, but they could still be together. He had never lived in the expectation that they would bond, only that we were together. 

Reassured they had a plan, he let himself drift back towards sleep. 

“Noct!” Ignis snarled, viciously squeezing his hand to get his attention again. “You’re doing better, Noct. You’re stronger. You _might_ survive the severance.” That was… reassuring. Kind of. “Noct, listen to me. Prompto _isn’t_ improving. Every day he gets worse and worse. If we sever the bond, the shock will _kill him_.”

No! No no no no. They couldn’t. Prompto! They couldn’t _kill_ his mate. He heard the shriek of machines, a heart monitor, as a heart raced too quickly. His own, he realised, figuring out what that panicked throbbing was. 

“Noct,” Ignis said quietly, reassuringly. “I’ll put them off as long as I can. But it’s up to you. You need to find a way to fix the bond. I don’t know how it works, how you can. But if you want to save Prompto, you _have_ to find a way.” 

There was a bustle of noise, doctors and nurses – something hot scorching through his veins and then sleep consumed him again. He was falling, plummeting towards an ocean. He pierced through the water and slowed until he was floating in place. He could breathe, like normal, but everything was floaty and weightless. He couldn’t feel the water pressing against his skin , but he could feel the currents pulling at his hair and limbs. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling it out. As the air left his lips, he felt the water washing away like a tide. He remained still, like a stone peeking out of the water at a beach. 

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in the middle of a familiar forest. The grass and the leaves were so green, but the light filtering through the canopy was blue – like light underneath the water. There was something familiar about the place, but he couldn’t name it. 

When he looked down at his hand, he was holding a cellphone. Confused, he held it up, and a notification brought the screen to life. “ **Noctis. I am here to help you.”**

****

“Huh?” He asked, lowering the screen. His eyes settled on a strange creature sitting patiently atop a flat boulder. Immediately he knew that the creature, a legendary carbuncle, was the one who was speaking to him through the phone. He looked the messenger in the eyes. “What are you here to help me with?” 

****

A phone chime. He glanced at it. “ **To wake up.** ”

****

“Right…” He looked around him. “I’m not _ready_ to wake up yet,” he answered. “I need to find Prompto.” The carbuncle watched him carefully, no answer. He walked over and crouched over to carefully run his fingers through the soft fur. “Do you know how I can?” 

****

Chime. “ **Follow your heart.** ”

****

He chuckled. “Of course.” 

****

He settled down on the ground, the grass soft as silk against his hands and legs. He closed his eyes, took long, deep breaths. Listen to his heart. Was that meant to be metaphorical? 

****

He knew what his heart wanted. His heart wanted Prompto, alive and well, living beside him for the rest of their lives. His omega, his mate. Bonded or not, with children or not. How did knowing that _help_ him? 

****

He felt the carbuncle settle in his lap, and the phone chimed. He opened one eye to peek at it – again, the words: “ **listen to your heart**.”

****

“I’m trying,” he muttered. Another deep breath. Relax his mind, just like when he was conducting severance ceremonies. Let the edges of his brain get soft. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. That was his heartbeat. 

****

Deep breath. _Listen._

****

Oh. There. The same rhythmic thumping in his own chest – but far off. In the distance. He rose to his feet, the carbuncle gracefully climbing down to the ground. 

****

“He’s that way.” He pointed down the path he could still hear the thumping coming. The carbuncle led the way through the forest, through the rocky terrain it changed to when he blinked, and finally coming to the citadel. 

****

He stood at the top of his stairs, and as he looked down he saw Prompto entering through the gates. He was dressed in some winter gear. Noct descended the stairs, approaching closer – but as he watched, Prompto shifted and changed. He shrunk but broadened – until he became the soft, young boy he slightly remembered. 

****

Prompto, as a child. He trudged forward, slowly, heavily. “My whole life,” Prompto’s voice echoed through his head, like he was thinking in the dream. Their dream. “All I ever wanted was a pack to call home.” 

****

Noct watched, frozen on the steps, as dreamlike wraiths appeared – figures of him and Ignis, a baby held in his mirror’s arms, and Gladio walking behind them protectively. “So when I finally found a pack who would take me, I did everything I could for them to let me stay.” 

****

The group of wraiths walked past Prompto, ignoring him completely, and the boy turned and continued his plodding journey to the stairs. “And ever since then, I’ve lived my life in fear,” the voice continued, as he lowered his heavy body to sit on the bottom stair, “that one day, they’d realize I would never fit in with them, and they wouldn’t accept me any more.” 

****

The dream shifted, blurred – soft blue petals raining from the sky as a familiar white dog sat patiently before Prompto. His omega took a letter from her jaws, unfolding the paper. It was Luna’s voice now, coming from everywhere and nowhere like Prompto’s. “All I ask is that you befriend him, and keep a space for him in your heart.” 

****

The dream shifted again, and his omega was sitting alone on the stairs again. “How does she expect someone like _me_ to deserve him? I’m not good enough. He needs someone better. With me out of the picture, without our bond, he can finally be with you – like the two of you wanted.” 

****

_Prompto_ … He unglued his feet from the stairs, but it took all his strength to make one step at a time. 

****

“Is this what he wants?” Prompto asked, slumping in on himself. “Is that what they all want? Or do they want _me_? In their pack, in their den…” 

****

He tried to call his omega’s name, but it didn’t come out. Whose nightmare was this? 

****

The young Prompto figure lifted his head up to the sky, watching the petals drift down. “But what about me? What do I want?” As his omega stood, he shifted forms again, until the more familiar adult omega Noct loved was standing there. “I’ve finally figured it out.” 

****

He turned, and his eyes met with Noct’s, still trying to descend the stairs. A surprised smile crossed his face. “Noct?” 

****

“Prompto…” It finally came out this time. 

****

He reached his hand out for Prompto to take as he descended the last couple stairs. As their fingers brushed, the dream seemed to blur – he was at once himself, and his younger self. When Prompto had known him. When they had first bonded. Prompto was the same, his young self-conscious self with the glasses – and his older self, eyes warm and awed. 

****

He felt something warm spreading from his chest, flowing down his arm and out of his hand and into Prompto’s. The feeling, like a popped joint you didn’t realize was abnormal until the feeling was eased. He knew, even before the light blue thread glowed to life between them: their bond. They’d mended it. 

****

He smiled and stepped close, wrapping Prompto in his embrace. “Come on, Prom. It’s time to wake up.”

****


	21. Epilogue

“Is everything ready?” Noct hissed excitedly, darting around the house and picking up a few stray items that were out of place. 

Prompto, who was splayed out on the couch, having made himself comfortable there hours ago, chuckled at him. He followed his alpha around the room with his eyes. Alphas and their nesting. “Everything is fine,” he reassured him. “Come sit down. I want to cuddle.” 

Noct fussed just a little more, and then he came over to sit with him. He climbed over him on the couch, spooning up behind him. Things hadn’t changed between them, in the couple months since the severance disaster. It was a sign as much as anything that what they’d had before was a true bond. 

They were safe. Ardyn Izunia had fled the country – and Lady Highwind’s testimony meant that if he ever came back through their borders, he’d spend the rest of his life imprisoned. She’d told Regis his entire plan, as far as she was aware of it, and the king had passed on the information to Noct. 

Ardyn had a lifelong vendetta against the bloodline of the Lucis Caelum family. He had been planning, for decades, some way to ensure they would never rule. Somehow, she didn’t know how, he had discovered that Prompto and Noctis had pre-bonded, and he’d worked to put a long, convoluted plan into action. Empowering the Council for the Protection of Omegas to get the Izunia Law Reforms in place, to ensure he’d have control over Prompto. He bought off doctors to make claims about DNA pre-bonding, so nobody would question who the Empty had bonded to. 

Noct finding and choosing Prompto as his mate had not been accounted for – and he’d had to personally intervene. Chemically sterilizing Prompto at the ball that Drautos had drugged the entire guest-list had ensured that there wasn’t a blood heir on the way. Then he’d gotten to work, finding an alpha from Niflheim who would pretend to be Besithia’s former mate, and get Noctis to sever his own bond. 

He’d fled the country when he found out both Noctis and Prompto had _survived_ the severance, and Lady Highwind had immediately sold him out in exchange for a pardon and a heft bribe. 

Prompto shook off his thought, sitting up when he heard the sound of the elevator settling into place on their floor.

The door creaked open, and they both jolted upwards in excitement. The scents preceded the entrance of the rest of their den. Gladio’s musky alpha scent, like campfires and arabica coffee. Ignis’s disturbing scent, campfire smoke and wildflowers. And then the third. Still smelling brand new, baby milk and talc powder and that indescribable _something_ that was just _new baby_.

The other couple crowded them before they could do anything more than close the door. “Baby!” Prompto cooed, his brain unable to come up with anything _else_ to say. Just baby, cooing over the miraculous new life that was theirs. _Their_ den’s. 

Gladio, who looked almost as exhausted as Iggy did, carefully placed the wrapped bundle in Prompto’s arms. “Support his head!” Iggy warned, with that jolt of protective parent panic that wouldn’t go away for… well, ever probably. 

Prompto carefully cradled the precious form in his arms, a cooing whine escaping his lips as an uncontrollable smile split his cheeks. _Baby_ his brain supplied helpfully. He gently supported the newborn’s head in the crook of his elbow, freeing one hand so he could feel the chubby cheeks with his forefinger. 

“He’s so _tiny_ ,” Noct cooed, coming to stand just behind Prompto so they could look down on the newborn together. 

Ignis patted the prince’s arm with a tired smile. “Yes. Small, and capable of the most earsplitting noise you can imagine.” He leaned into his own alpha. “Every two hours. Gladio and I are going to have a _long sleep_. Welcome to co-parenthood.” 

Prompto felt a moment of panic. “Wait, what? You’re leaving us alone with Hellebore?” 

“You’ll be fine,” the other omega replied, rolling his eyes and already making his way towards the bedroom. “If he starts crying, change his nappy, and offer him a bottle of food. If he eats, burp him. When you’re tired of cuddling, just lie him down in the basinet.” 

“How could anyone get tired of cuddling this precious little bud?” Noctis murmured, tickling Hellebore’s other cheek. 

Ignis and Gladio glanced at each other, and then gave a soft laugh. Gladio patted Noct’s shoulder and led Ignis past them both into the bedroom. 

Noct carefully led Prompto over to the couch, and they settled down. Noctis sat, Prompto settled between his legs, and cradled Helleborus in his arms. His alpha’s chin rested on his shoulders, and the two of them looked over him. 

“I don’t think he should’ve left us alone straight away,” Prompto confessed at a whisper. 

“We’ll be fine,” Noct replied, chuckling. “We’ve gone to all the same lessons as they did, read all the same books.” He smiled against the skin of Prompto’s neck. “Besides,” his hands slid around his waist and rested over his lower abdomen, “think of it as good practice.” 

Prompto frowned in confusion, craning his neck to try and meet his alpha’s eyes. “Practice? What are you talking about, Noct?” 

His alpha tilted his head, surprised. “You haven’t noticed?” He asked. “Your scent’s changed. Whatever Ardyn poisoned you with at the presentation ball has finally left your system. A couple more heat cycles and you’ll be back to normal.” 

Prompto gaped, his jaw hanging open. “Noct… this isn’t a funny joke.” 

His alpha leaned in to kiss his neck again. “You’ll have to get the blood tests, obviously, before the doc will take you off the hormone stabilizers, but I wouldn’t lie to you about this. The toxic smell isn’t there any more, I’m convinced it’s gone.” 

“He said it could be in my system for _years_ , Noct. That it might’ve caused permanent damage.” 

He dropped his eyes back down to Helleborus, whose eyes fluttered open for a brief moment before slipping closed. They were a clear blue, like only newborns had. He was so beautiful, so small and perfect and precious. It made his heart swell and ache all in the same breath. 

“We’ve had this discussion, Noct,” he said. “We can’t… we can’t _plan_ on the hope I’m miraculously going to become fertile.” 

His alpha sighed and curled him closer. “Okay, I won’t talk about it.” He kissed his neck. “We’ll just enjoy co-parenting Helleborus, then.” He paused, and then wrinkled his nose. “Including that diaper you can change.” 

Prompto chuckled and carried the precious boy into the nursery, carefully strapping him safely into the changing table. “You,” he told the dozing baby, “are the luckiest boy in the whole world. All four of us will do _anything_ for you. The entire kingdom will adore you.” He carefully buttoned him back up into his sleeping suit. “Iggy and Noct will make sure you’re a fantastic king.” 

He felt Noct’s arms close around his back, holding him close again. Prompto squeezed his hand before carefully cradling Helleborus back up into his arms. He carried him back out into the living room. They settled back together on the couch. 

Prompto smiled, closing his eyes in contentment. Things were still a mess, the omega laws slowly being pieced apart, his body chemistry was still all over the place. But they were all home, and they had Helleborus. He had his den, and his alpha, and a baby he was allowed to call his own in part. 

He was, for the first time in years, happy.


End file.
